


The Exiles

by Darky_Parky



Series: Ḙ̵̡͔̙͘Ŗ̴͉͎͓͒͆̎Ṛ̸̹̓Ȏ̴̧̭͎Ṟ̷͔̹̜͑̊̕ ̷̢͍̗̥̻̅̊̉E̷̲̓̆̈́͗R̴̥̪̭͖̋̆͜R̶͖̈̎̈́̅͝Ȍ̶̝̎̂̿̔̕R̶͇̣̗̮͝ [1]
Category: jacksepticeye
Genre: Angst, Apocalypse AU?, Demonic Possession, F/M, FYI Every Chapter is going to be named after an Arctic Monkey's song, Gen, Heavily based on the most recent Anti-pocalypse, Horror, Is everyone going to make it out alive?, Light-hearted moments, Mild Gore, Nobody knows, Platonic Relationships, Psychological Trauma, Puppets, Seizures, Virus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-05-08 02:43:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14684784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darky_Parky/pseuds/Darky_Parky
Summary: Y̸̡͍͉̕ø̸̧̱͓͎͆̉Ú̶̢̉͝ ̵̥͔̦̜͒̉̑̉C̴̞͇̮̓̎O̴̹̗̓̂̿͜|̵̗͖̿̓͒_̸̜̈|̴̱̭̋Ḽ̸̭͈̽͆D̶͈͋̈́ͅ'̸͈͆̂͘V̵̥͆E̶̡̫͑̓̕͜ ̵̗͎͒S̸̤̩̾͆͘̕T̷̢̺̘̋[̴̹̄]̶̐͊̕͜P̸̱͖̼̎̓̚P̵̣̂͜ͅE̵̡̥̾̀͗̒D̶̢͎̈́͋ ̷̡̏M̷̲̱̩̈́̄̈́3̷̧̺̠̜̏̅,̸̜̼̖́̒̄ ̶̭͑B̷̞͖̦̎U̸͖̓͋͠T̶̢̘͕̋͐̽̏ ̴̳̚Ỳ̴̯̮͑Ȏ̶̟̾̅̚µ̴̘̜̙̓ ̵̰̲̦̒̾J̴͉̦̯̘͘͝U̸͇͝?̶͚͕̘͖̑̅T̵̘͚̯̥̓̕ ̸̯̳̥̳̄̿̓\̶̳̒̅̚͠\̶̺̄̍'̴̛̺̱̪̟̊4̵͇͒͋T̶̥͔̅C̸̡͍̘͔͐͒̃̏H̴̦͜͝&̵̝̗̗̃͑͘̕ͅÐ̶̮̹̀̆͘͠ ̷̨͛͛̈́̇A̸̝̱͐͘S̷̙̬͝ ̵̘̬̯̈́̈͂T̸̼̟̜͍͊̕͠Ḧ̶͎́͂Ĩ̷̘̳̮̌̈́S̵̢̮͘ ̶̧͈͈̲̄̑̑̄]̶̢̛̪̀ͅ-̵͍̔͒̂͂[̶̛͓̻͔͈͒@̴̦̣̲̲̂̔̏|̸̹̗̕>̷̧͚͍͕͑̓͛|̴̜̱̳͈̑̋°̵̧̢̦́̇ͅÉ̴̹(̴͚̥̭͂\̶̬̓̅̍̐)̶̡͉͙̉ͅE̸̟̮̿͒D̶͓̈́





	1. Four Out of Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stay with us  
> F̵̙̼͍̫̈̾̌͊o̶͕̹̖̩̔̃̾͝r̵͈͉͑e̶̢̳̗̣͐̍̓͠v̸̳̣̪̥͂̑̅̕e̸̖̤͑̿̇r̴̜̭̳̎̽  
> Ā̸̟̂̿̈́̂̚̚n̷̘̝̣̹͇̦̅ͅḑ̷̜̞̳̲̰̭̩͉̅͌̿̃̑̓͗̆̌͆̚͜ ̴͖̅̅͒̃̽̈͜͝͝e̶̳͙͆̎̅͘v̸̡̝͕̻̻̱̭͚͆͌͑̌͆͛̓̎͘͜͠͝ę̴̩̐̕ṛ̴̢̘̱̞̙̹͙̳̌͛̋̓͗̈́  
> Ā̸̟̂̿̈́̂̚̚n̷̘̝̣̹͇̦̅ͅḑ̷̜̞̳̲̰̭̩͉̅͌̿̃̑̓͗̆̌͆̚͜ ̴͖̅̅͒̃̽̈͜͝͝e̶̳͙͆̎̅͘v̸̡̝͕̻̻̱̭͚͆͌͑̌͆͛̓̎͘͜͠͝ę̴̩̐̕ṛ̴̢̘̱̞̙̹͙̳̌͛̋̓͗̈́  
> Ā̸̟̂̿̈́̂̚̚n̷̘̝̣̹͇̦̅ͅḑ̷̜̞̳̲̰̭̩͉̅͌̿̃̑̓͗̆̌͆̚͜ ̴͖̅̅͒̃̽̈͜͝͝e̶̳͙͆̎̅͘v̸̡̝͕̻̻̱̭͚͆͌͑̌͆͛̓̎͘͜͠͝ę̴̩̐̕ṛ̴̢̘̱̞̙̹͙̳̌͛̋̓͗̈́  
> Ā̸̟̂̿̈́̂̚̚n̷̘̝̣̹͇̦̅ͅḑ̷̜̞̳̲̰̭̩͉̅͌̿̃̑̓͗̆̌͆̚͜ ̴͖̅̅͒̃̽̈͜͝͝e̶̳͙͆̎̅͘v̸̡̝͕̻̻̱̭͚͆͌͑̌͆͛̓̎͘͜͠͝ę̴̩̐̕ṛ̴̢̘̱̞̙̹͙̳̌͛̋̓͗̈́  
> Ā̸̟̂̿̈́̂̚̚n̷̘̝̣̹͇̦̅ͅḑ̷̜̞̳̲̰̭̩͉̅͌̿̃̑̓͗̆̌͆̚͜ ̴͖̅̅͒̃̽̈͜͝͝e̶̳͙͆̎̅͘v̸̡̝͕̻̻̱̭͚͆͌͑̌͆͛̓̎͘͜͠͝ę̴̩̐̕ṛ̴̢̘̱̞̙̹͙̳̌͛̋̓͗̈́

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I base this off of Arctic Monkey's "Four Out of Five" music video? Yes, yes I did. And I recommend you watch it, because I honestly love it.  
> Anyway, enjoy.

Signe awoke in a hotel room upon a still made bed. She rolled over onto her side and looked around the room, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She didn't remember checking into a hotel room. And she didn't remember why she needed a hotel room. She sat up, turning her head to either side of the room. 

It was a very fancy hotel room, complete with a kitchenette, a bathroom, two queen sized beds both completed with a kingdom of pillows and blankets, a television and a curtain to hide the "bedroom". It was all very pleasant, but there was something. . . off about it.

Curious, Signe swung her legs over to the opposite side of the bed and began exploring, looking for anything wrong with the room. There wasn't anything truly unusual. Just the usual telephone on the nightstand, provided toiletries, extra towels, and a TV remote. However before Signe was about to give up her search she found something leaning against the other bed. She knelt down and picked up the item to find a forest green bag decorated in an assortment of badges.

Signe gasped and clasped her free hand over her mouth.

It was Sean's bag. Sean. Sean was somewhere in this hotel. . . without adult supervision!

Quickly, Signe slung Sean's bag over her shoulder and made a beeline for the door. She hastily opened it and stepped out into the hallway. She was going to continue her rapid pace if it weren't for how the quite unsettling hallway catching her off guard.

It was dark, illuminated only by faded fluorescent lights that flickered above her ominously. An odd place to use fluorescent lights.

The hallway looked like it hasn't been touched in years. The carpet was filthy, the wall paint was peeling away and the other doors seemed like they were made out of rusted metal.

Signe jumped slightly when she heard the single click of the door locking behind her. It almost echoed in the silence. She swallowed hard as she grasped the straps to Sean's bag tightly in her hands. She looked left to right, trying to decipher where the lobby would be. She finally decided on going right since right is always right . . . .  Right?

Signe forced herself to step away from the hotel door and begin to walk. 

The carpet was soft and she felt like that any moment she will hit a spot that will just cave in, taking her down with it.

As she walked she became more and more uneasy. She began to have the feeling of someone behind her, but she didn't dare to look.

Then, if that wasn't enough, she could start hear footsteps behind her, but every time she stopped to listen they weren't there. 

The buzzing of the lights overhead morphed into eerie whispers that Signe couldn't quite decipher but didn't know if she even wanted to. Signe picked up her pace as the flickering of the lights turned into near blackouts.

With each second of darkness Signe could hear someone behind her, breathing heavily, chasing after her almost animalistically. But it stopped with every time the lights turned back on.

At the end of the hallway, Signe could see a pale stairway. She began running, desperately trying to get as far as possible from whatever was behind her. If it was even there.

Her feet pounded against the carpeted floors, two heavy footsteps following close behind her. Signe's heart beat against her chest as she got closer and closer to the stairway, determined to reach it.

With one more leap Signe made it into the stairway and rushed down the stairs, not stopping for anything. She arrived in what looked like the lobby.

It was a lot more taken care of than the hallway or the stairway or even the hotel room she was originally in. It had elegant accents in the corners of the walls, painted exquisitely, and it had only the finest of furniture and decoration. But Signe couldn't stop right now to admire it's beauty and craftsmanship, she had to find Sean before things get out of hand.

She walked hastily through the lobby, looking around for any sign of her boyfriend.

"Sean?" she called but received no answer. She continued on through the lobby, anxiety and fear filling every part of her being. "Sean?" Signe stopped in the middle of her search, having caught sight of another odd hallway.

It was long and narrow and dark. The only light being a slow, red flashing light that just read bad news. It emitted this eerie alarm, none like any other Signe had heard before.

But something deep inside Signe told her that she had to go down that hallway. Something that told her at the end of that hallway was Sean. And that something urged her on.

Taking in a deep breath through her nose Signe slowly walked into the hallway. The odd alarm growing louder and louder with each step and Signe's uneasiness becoming stronger. 

She swallowed hard and mustered up the courage to speak. "Sean?" she called.

This time there was not just silence, she heard a little giggle from afar that was all too familiar to Signe. Filled with a new hope, Signe began jogging toward the end of the hallway. "Sean?" She could see the silhouette of him, his arms out wide, welcoming her.

And even though she couldn't see his face, she knew, she  _knew_ he was smiling brightly at her. Signe smiled back at him, before calling out in joy, "Sean!"

"I'm right here, baby." This would have normally make Signe stop and consider Sean calling her "baby", but she was so happy to see him after the horror of looking for him that she didn't even think about it.

Signe ran to her boyfriend and pulled him into a tight embrace, burying her face into his chest. "I'm so glad that you're okay." Sean rested his chin atop her head and stroked her hair.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. It's this. . . hotel." Signe departed and looked up at Sean. "We have to get out of here, we have to. . ." Signe trailed off, finding something. . . off about her boyfriend. He was not only grinning in such an abnormal way, but the wild look in his eyes. . . it just wasn't right.

" _What's the matter, darlin'?"_

That voice. Signe knew that voice all too well. " _Not likin' what ya see?"_   Anti's image glitched as he said this, giving Signe the cue to run.

She broke out of Anti's grasp and ran for the opposite end of the hallway, Anti's cackle following her.

But Signe couldn't see the end of the hallway. She couldn't see the bright, white walls of the lobby. She could only see the black void that once was the doorway to the lobby. But she didn't stop running. She wouldn't allow herself to.

The lights continued to blink in and out of darkness. The alarm growing louder than the pounding in Signe's ears. But, at least it drowned out Anti's horrible laugh.

The hallway seemed to get longer and longer with each step that Signe took, making her escape almost hopeless. But she didn't stop. She is not going to die by simply giving up.

And for a moment. For a mere  _instance_. Signe thought she could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Signe thought that she was going to get away. She thought that she was going to get out of here alive.

But, unfortunately this was only an instance. As soon as the red lights came back on Anti was in front of Signe, grinning down at her maliciously. She didn't even have time to turn back before he thrusted his knife into her gut.

Signe gasped and choked as Anti slowly placed her down, gently shushing her as blood leaked out from her wound, staining her clothes and creating a pool of pure crimson on the floor. " _Hush. Hush now, darlin'. Don't struggle._ " Signe was placed down onto her back. She looked up at Anti in horror as he swiftly pulled out his knife causing her to gasp sharply.

She wanted to ask so many questions. She wanted to yell. To shout. To scream. To do _something._ But she couldn't. It was almost as if someone had taken away her ability to speak. 

The last thing she heard before everything went black was Anti's horrid giggle echoing off of the walls.

And the very last thought that crossed Signe's mind was: "Where was Sean?".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof this started on a pretty dark note. But, I will add in some lighter moments because honestly this fanfiction needs it.


	2. Snap Out of It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> W̶̰̐̍̽͋ḫ̷̫̥̺̉̎̈́̄e̶̼̔̓r̴̦̰͎̞̟̄́̄̾͘e̴̛͕̯͂ ̶̭͛́ą̷̭͕̹͜m̴̗̰͆̆̕͘͠ ̵̻̜̰̅I̶̧̱̙̹̳̜͆͗̐͋?̷̘̔̔͑͌  
> ̶͎͔͙̈́̅͝Ĩ̴̙ ̴̧̥̼̕d̴̛̞o̴̺̎́̓n̷͔͉͂̇'̶̤̘̤͎̩̼͌̅̆t̵̪͒̾̕ ̴͈̠̰̣̎͗́̚k̵̛̮͎̈n̷̢̧̮̦̼̹̈́͋̀̅̽͝ö̶̪̭̝́ẉ̶͖̝̬́ ̷̹̜̖̭͊͐͌͛̂h̶̢̯̘̰̖̿́̉͛̚͝o̷͙̯̞̻͚͖͝w̵̛̟͓̝̳̽̏̏̌ ̶̦̩̀̆̓͒̀̽Į̴̛̮̓̽͌ ̵̛͇̺͈̈̃̓̏g̷͓̪̓o̸̯̐͒t̷̢̲̖͍̭̀ ̴̬̩̥̃͘h̴̥͍͚̩̊̉́̕͜ë̶̟̦̪̤̒̃r̶̛̬͉̗̳̱̔e̶̠̘̮̎̆̈́̏.̴̥̪̻͝  
> ̴̛̮͎̜̪͛Ģ̶̲͓͙̒̆̇e̶̢̙̚t̴͉̦͈̆ ̷̨̛̝̦̱̮̖̏̋̉̈m̸̪͈̺̩̟̉͑͘e̸̥̲̯͖̺̍̈́̆͒ ̵̡̨͍̭̥̺͗̀o̵͉̳͌̐̉̚͠u̷̢̥̱̹͂ţ̷̮̭̪̪̤̍͋͑̈́̚͝.̷̳̯̙̳̙̠̾  
> ̵͚̬̝͆̔͛̋͝L̶̤̠̥̣̈̈́̆͘͝E̵̟͇̗̻̿̏̿̏T̷̢̯̈́̓͐̄̑͐͜ ̸̛͔̯̏̄̈͂̚M̸̯̺͑̇͐̓͝Ẻ̵͔̳͕ ̵͚̗̦̌̆͛̓̾̿O̴̡̼̟̾Ų̷̧͚̯͂̈́̎͘͠ͅT̴̫̻̉͆͂͜

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning:  
> Some fucked up shit is about to happen.

Signe awoke with a jolt. Her green eyes wide open, staring up at a white ceiling. She was coated in a thin layer of sweat making everything feel much colder. She felt thin fabric wrapped around her body. Her chest rising and falling rapidly as she slowly took in the deafening silence that surrounded her. Signe slowly calmed down, telling herself that it was just a nightmare.

Very slowly, she sat up and took in her surroundings. She was in what looked like an abandoned hospital. There were several rows of hospital beds that were all made but have not been touched in years. Their mattresses light gray as well as their pillows and their blue blankets dull. There was a machine next to each and every bed all still and extremely dusty.

There were fluorescent lights hanging above Signe's head. They were gray and powerless, the only light was coming from the grand windows behind Signe. The walls were almost a dull green, the paint was peeling away, and in the corners of the ceilings were collections of mold. 

Signe looked down at herself to see she was dressed in a hospital gown and was tucked in by a white blanket. There was a machine next to her that beeped softly as IV dripped down from it's bag into a tube that was injected in her arm. It seemed to be the only machine that was working.

Confused, Signe pulled off the blanket and climbed out of bed. She grabbed the IV machine and pulled it along with her as she moved to the foot of her hospital bed. Just as she expected there was a clipboard containing her information.

At the very top it read:

" _Patient: Signe Hansen_

_Date:_

_Doctor: Henrik Schneeplestein"_ and it then went on to describe things like her blood pressure, heart rate, important stuff like that.

Signe furrowed her eyebrows. "Henrik Schneeplestein". She's heard that name somewhere before. But where?

Signe slipped her index finger underneath the paper and flipped it to see her description. The description was very long and seemed like this "Henrik" put some work into it. However Signe couldn't see most of it for somebody scrawled over it in big bold letters: " **NEXT TIME HENRIK** ". It was either in charcoal pencil or somebody used a whole #2 pencil to write this.

Signe frowned a bit. "Hope you're doing alright, Henrik." She set down the clipboard and moved on through the hospital, looking out for anyone or anything that may be about. Mostly an office where they may be keeping her stuff such as her phone, her purse, and most importantly her clothes. Not like she doesn't really enjoy the feeling of the freezing cold air on her bare behind. . . but she doesn't.

By walking around Signe found two hallways on either side of the room, both amazingly dark, both incredibly creepy, and both just _screaming_ bad news. Signe knew she would have to pick one if she wanted to move forward.

Taking in a deep breath she entered the nearest one which was to the left. Slowly she walked, the beeping of the machine amplifying due to the small space. Her feet making soft sounds on the cold, tile floor.

The only lights were the extremely dim fluorescent ones that hung overhead and the lights of the machine.

Signe wanted to call out to see if anyone was there, but decided that was probably not the best idea.

At the end of the hallway she could see a completely white room, lacking of decor and furniture. Signe picked up her pace and was just a few feet from the room when a dark figure rushed in front of the doorway, causing Signe to jump back in fear, clutching her machine for dear life.

Her heart was beating against her chest, her palms were clammy, and her eyes wide. She wanted to speak but her vocal chords would not allow her to.

A haunting laugh bounced off the walls and traveled down the hallway. A laugh that Signe knew all too well. She tried to swallow but her mouth was dry and her legs shook, making it hard for her to stand upright. 

" _Did you really think I was gone?_ _"_   His voice seemed far away, yet so close all at the same time. 

Scared, Signe pushed on, wanting to find the closest exit as soon as humanly possible.

She entered what looked like a lobby which had a reception desk with a phone perched atop of it, a steel elevator, and two other dark hallways. Signe went over to the desk, figuring that calling for help would be much more enjoyable than an elevator that could break down or trying her luck with the hallways of certain death. " _Did you think that I was done with you?"_ Signe picked up the phone and dialed the first number that came to mind which was Sean's phone number. " _I can't let you go just yet._ "

The phone rang for a few tense moments as Signe's eyes wandered the lobby. Eventually her eyes landed on an outlet in which the phone should have been connected to. Signe furrowed her eyebrows as she followed the bland yellow wire to find that the line was cut. But, how was it ringing?

"Hello, this is Sean, I'm probably not available right now, most likely because I'm  ** _d̵̡̢̘̰̟̭̰̹̖͖̈̄͐̾̊͆̅e̷̛̪̣͖͙̲̰̩̯̣͙̗̭a̴̧͝ḍ̷̈́̊̚._** " The phone then emitted horrible sounds that were a mix of blood curdling screams, demonic voices whispering in foreign tongue, and Anti's dreaded laugh.

Signe let out a sharp gasp and dropped the phone almost as if it burned her. She went to grab her IV machine when she found it wasn't there. Signe clasped her hands over her mouth and stumbled backward, absolutely horrified at the abnormal phenomenons. " _You're just too much fun!"_ Anti giggled.

Signe shook her head, she can't let him get to her this easily. She needs to keep moving forward.

Taking in a deep breath she walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. The button glowed red and made an "error" noise, indicating that she has done something wrong. Signe's eyes traveled to see that she needed some sort of key cad. " _Did you really think it was going to be that easy?"_

Signe sighed heavily. "Do you shut up? Like ever?" Anti just laughed in response.

" _Try explorin' the hallway up front. Might find somethin' to yer interest._ "

Signe knitted her eyebrows together. "Why are you telling me this?"

" _Isn't a hunt a lot more fun when you give your prey a head start?"_

Signe churned as she looked down the pitch black hallway. She didn't like Anti prompting her to go there and she especially didn't like the idea of going down the hallway itself. " _Go_ _on,_ _puppet._ " Signe shivered in disgust at the nickname. " _I'm not going to hurt you just yet. That'll spoil the fun._ "

Signe shook her head. She was not going to listen to this fucker. She ran down the opposite hallway, her feet slapping against the tile. " _Ah, so that's how you wanna play this game. Alright then._ " A second later there was a loud clang from behind her. Then, darkness which was soon followed by a man's scream. " _Oh, dear. It's seems you have lost your way._ _Where are you gonna go now, puppet?_ _"_

A bright light shined through a rectangular square of a metal door, showcasing a glimpse of a white room with splatters of red. Signe hugged herself. " _Ah, there seems like a way._ " But Signe didn't move, she didn't want to go that way. " _Come on, darlin'. Don't get cold feet now. You **wanted** to go here. Remember?"_

Signe swallowed hard before straightening her back and slowly walking forward. Heel to toe. Heel to toe. The bright lights of the room getting even brighter with each step she took. And the red splatters growing a darker shade with each and every step. " _Can ya go a lil' faster? I'm gettin' bored._   _And trust me, I do much worse things to people when I'm bored._ " Signe picked up her pace, not wanting to know what those things are. She finally reached the metal door, but she didn't dare to peer inside it.

She placed her palm on the cool metal, already feeling extremely uneasy about this. She took in a deep breath before pushing it open. Signe clasped a hand over her mouth, muffling her scream.

In front of her was a dead man. A machete sticking out of his head. Scalpels and other surgical tools were buried in his limbs. And his arm seemed to be severely broken.

Blood was splattered everywhere and lab equipment was thrown about. " _I bettin' the other hallway sounds great right now._ " Tears welled up in Signe's eyes. " _Aw, now, don't cry, darlin'."_   There was still amusement in his voice. Sick and twisted amusement. " _Here, since you've been such a good sport, I'll tell ya where the card is. Look inside his belly there._ "

Signe's lips quivered and she cringed at the thought of rooting through this man's corpse. Anti chuckled. " _Aww, are you scared? Are you finally scared?"_   Signe didn't answer, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction. " _C'mon, it's easy. Just walk up to him, reach in, and take it._ " Signe took in a shaky breath and walked over to the corpse, her legs willing to give out at any second. Signe knelt down and turned the corpse slightly so that she could have access to the man's stomach. The man's lifeless eyes staring up at her, his face rid of all emotion.

Signe looked down at the slit on his stomach and she wanted to either vomit or scream. Possibly both.

She pulled up his stained shirt and looked away as she slid her hand into his wound. Signe gagged as she felt around his insides until she finally felt a rectangular, plastic card. She grabbed the card from the depths of the man's guts and went to pull it out. When the body suddenly jolted awake and began screaming.

Signe let out a shriek of terror as Anti laughed cruelly at her terror. She pulled the card out and scrambled to her feet, uncontrollable tears streaming down her face. The resurrected corpse crawled over to her and clawed at her leg.

"Please, please, help me! Help me! HELP ME!" Signe screamed even louder as he did so.

And then, just as quickly as the corpse came alive, it fell near Signe's feet.

Signe covered her face as sobs erupted from her throat.

Anti chuckled. " _Good job, puppet._ " Signe placed a hand over her mouth, trying to muffle her sobs for he knew he was enjoying every second of her suffering. " _I'll give ya 'bout five minutes to. . . adjust. Then I'm gonna come lookin' for ya. But, if you finish a bit earlier, come meet me out in the lobby_ _. I have a surprise for you,_ " he sang.

Signe crumpled onto the floor and cried.

She just wanted to go home. She just wanted all of this to be over.

But, if she wanted that, she can't just sit here and cry about it. With her clean hand, Signe wiped away her tears and put on a stern face, fighting off the quivering of her bottom lip. She got up and straightened her back, taking a confident stance. She then looked down at the machete in the corpse's head.

Her face hardened. "Oh, I'm coming for you, Glitch Bitch."

* * *

Signe walked down the hallway dragging the machete behind her with an expression that was a mix between anger and determination. She arrived in the pure white lobby moments later to see that Anti wasn't there.

"Hey, I was promised you'd be here."

" _And I am._ "

"Well why don't you show yourself then?"

" _I have._ " Signe jumped as she felt someone's breath on her neck. She turned around to see a grinning Anti. Dressed in his classic black gauges, the black T-shirt, and. . . well Signe would say everything, however everything wasn't there. She raised her machete and stared him down.

"What happened to your neck?"

" _I promised a friend that I would never reveal his secret. You know how magicians are._ "

"I just have to ask. Why are you doing this? Why Sean? Why me?"

Anti giggled as his image glitched. The lights flickered as his image jumped around room until it finally landed in front of Signe. He forcefully grabbed her by the wrists and looked her in the eye.

" _Why don't you tell me, darlin'?_ _"_ Anti pushed Signe to the ground and cackled. " _You helped create me after all!"_   Signe got up, raised the machete high and charged straight for Anti, intending to kill when Anti's image flickered again. Signe stopped in the center of the room and tried to follow Anti as he jumped around the room. And when she thought that she had his pattern down she was pushed to the floor. " _You really are pathetic, aren't you?"_

Signe pushed herself back to her feet and faced Anti. "Y'know, I think I've figured out why you do this. I think you are so non-threatening that you have to do this kind of shit to people to make you feel powerful. Because in reality, Anti. You're nothing. You're-" 

Signe didn't exactly know what happened but one moment, she was on the ground, the next she was up against the wall being held by her throat. Anti was grinning devishly. " _Go on, finish your sentence, darlin'._ " He emphasized the end of his sentence by tightening the grip he had on Signe's throat. As Signe dropped her machete and went to claw at his hand he leaned forward. " _What am I?"_

Signe struggled in Anti's grasp until finally she managed to work up the strength to pull her legs to her chest and kick Anti to the ground, bringing her down with him. Signe clambered up from the ground and grabbed her machete. She placed her foot onto his chest and pointed the machete down at him.

"You're all bark and no bite." Once again Anti began to flicker rapidly and soon Signe was no longer staring down at those horrible green eyes, but her boyfriend's comforting blue ones. Although he still looked. . . different somehow.

"Signe, you have to do this. Please, do it for them. Do it for the sake of them living."

Signe furrowed her eyebrows. "Do what? Who's 'them'?" He grabbed Signe's wrist and tugged on it.

"Please, you have to do it before he comes back. I. . . I don't know how much longer I can hold on." There was fear in his voice and tears in his eyes. He didn't want to die. But for reasons unknown he had to.

Signe's hand trembled as she looked down at the man before her. "Please, you have to do it." Tears escaped from his eyes and trickled down the sides of his face. "Signe, please. You have to do it. You have to kill me."

Signe pressed her lips into a thin line. Her eyes tore away from the man for a brief moment to look over at the elevator before going back to him. "Do it!"

Whether this is a trick or not, there's no way that Signe could do it.

She tore away from the man and made it for the elevator. She fumbled with the blood stained card for a brief moment before inserting it into the slot. The button glowed green and dinged as Signe pressed the elevator button repeatedly. "Signe, wait!" Signe looked over her shoulder to see the man desperately trying to get up, something else holding him back.

Anti reappeared as he got up on one knee. " _You're not gettin' away that easily!"_ His image glitched and flickered back and forth between the man and Anti. It seemed that they were at war with one another, each one fighting for control. They began to crawl toward Signe causing her to press the button even faster. " _Fuckin' quit it, ya fuckin'-_ "

"Signe, you can't go! They're gonna die!" The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Signe rushed in and pressed the button that lead to the first floor then proceeded to press the close doors button as the two clawed their way over to her.

" _Don't go!_ Don't go!  _ **Ḑ̵̢̛̬͇̥̙̣̃͑̚ͅǑ̴̧̡͔̖̮̥̮͉̯͐̀̽̽N̸̢̨̳͍̙͖̳͉͑̌̇̎̆̽͒̚'̶͖̖͚̼̮̱͎̪͐T̶̞̱̓̑̏̎͛͛**_ -" The elevator doors closed and Signe collapsed onto the cold, metal floor.

It was over. For now.


	3. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> P̶̡̼̲̱͛̍ĺ̴̤̞̱͉̳̀̅e̴̞̝̩͎̩̚a̸̮͔̝̪͕̣̔̌̋̇͛͝s̷͈̘͌̈́͊̚ẻ̷͍̥͑̍̚,̷̢̪̞̥͇͊̅̽ͅ ̶̲̮͓͋̊̊̍͠c̶̢̞̙͎͠͝o̴̺̱͋̎͂m̸̟̮̺̮͒͌̒e̶̢̍̿ ̷̯̤̽̐͜i̷̧̱̩͈̩͛͝n̶̠̫̰̭̐͐  
> ̶̳̘̮̻̫̐̂̄̑͝͠I̷̘̙̭̺̝͋͆͛͌͝ͅt̵̡̜͖̘̮̒͌̓̑'̷͓̞̣̿͌̈̏s̴̳̠̓͊ ̸̤̩͆̓ͅb̵̨͎̆̀̄ͅe̴̢̪̻͗̂̓̚e̸̮̬͈̱̿̒̂͊̚n̸̡͈̒̌̍̈́̔͝ ̶̨̙͉̲̮̺̔̎̈̀͝f̴̡̜͓̙̥̟͌̀̂̑o̴͍̝͍͔̰̿͆͘ȓ̶̨͈͈̤̔̌̎͗͝e̵̗͖̥͊̄̆v̸̞̆͗̌͌̂̕e̸̪̳̾r̷̠̠̯̝͈͗ ̴̛͙̱̈͊̔̊̚s̸̬̏͐̇͝i̴͉͕͇̰̘̒̊̆̄̓͠n̵͍͈͑̎̈c̸̢͔̘͘͜e̵͖̲͈̮̦͛̃ͅ ̸̨̦̰͔͍̥̈́̄̍̎͂w̸̲͕̦̘̰͗͋e̴͇̙̼͕͚̱͛'̷̢̗͎͖̽͠v̴̧̙̥̣͈̝͗͐͌̿̈́e̶̡̖̬͝ ̴̮͎͕̗̏̓́͂h̶̘̻͌a̸͈̾̔̋̋ḑ̴͎̠̟̯̻̃͆͛̾ ̷̤̗͖͔̜̈́͑̒̚v̵̛̙͑̎͊̍̑͜i̷̫͚̅̑̉ͅs̷̮͋ḭ̸͎̍͛̅͝t̷͔̭̗̩͐̍̈ͅŏ̸̡̢̙̗ŗ̸̧̳͙̟̇͋͆͌͘͝ş̶̛̛͙̳͇̩̘̊̎̽̕

Signe left that hospital and didn't look back in fear of seeing. . . Anti. . . Sean. . . whoever and whatever that was trying to follow her. She ran through the parking lot in which had cars as far as the eye could see but no people.

The texture of the road was absolute murder on Signe's feet, but she didn't stop. She kept running until the skin on her feet were red and her lungs could no longer supply her without taking a break. Which wasn't too far from the hospital, but it wasn't too close either.

Signe put her back to a brick wall, placed her hands on her knees and caught her breath. After she finally could breathe somewhat evenly she stood up and looked around. She was at a corner of what looked like a little downtown place for tourists to drop by. Although, like many other places Signe has come across so far it was deserted. The only sound was the whistling wind which put her on edge.

Signe started walking, ignoring the pain in her feet. She occasionally glanced over her shoulder to confirm that nobody was following her. She walked until she just couldn't stand the thought of anyone and anything sneaking up on her. That's when she came upon an "old fashioned" bar - a.k.a. the place where hipsters can take their photos in peace and talk about how great being unique feels. The kind of place she would have gone with Sean for date night if all of this wasn't happening.

Signe entered the bar and froze in place, shutting her eyes tight at the ringing of a bell behind her, announcing that she had just entered. The wooden door shut behind her with a horrid slam. Scared of whatever may be in the bar she raised her machete and slowly walked through the bar, the floorboards giving very low creaks under her weight. 

The bar was true to it's name, it was extremely old fashioned. She was half expecting either a cowboy to enter the bar or possibly see a man pop up from behind the bar with a handlebar mustache.

The bar itself was a giant wooden oval, on the inside of it there were shelves of drinks on all four sides. They were filled with an array of drinks and glasses that seemed to be kept in good conditions. There were rickety wooden stools that were placed in front of the bar itself and some comfy looking booths placed near the windows.

Signe made a full circle around the bar, but she did not dare to ease up. Going off everything she has experienced up to this point - which is not much - it's best to keep your guard up. She was going to make another circle when she heard the shattering of a glass to the left of her. Signe readjusted her grip on her machete before slowly moving toward the sound.

"If you're in here you better show yourself." Signe received no response to this warning.

She sighed. Maybe the machete way wasn't the best approach. She lowered her weapon and stood up straight. "I won't hurt you as long as you don't plan to hurt me," she promised in a much softer voice.

A moment later a man slowly emerged from behind the bar with his hands up and his eyes down.

This man was dressed in a long-sleeved white dress shirt, a bright blue vest, a black bow tie with a matching top hat and mustache. He had brown hair, soft blue eyes, and a black goatee. Around his neck was a golden chain that held a mini chalkboard with elegant accent marks at the sides of it.

Signe knew this man. She dropped her machete, ran up to him, and threw her arms around him. "It's so good to see you, Jameson." And it truly was good to see a version of her boyfriend that  _wasn't_ going to kill her. Jameson gently pushed her back and looked to her quizzically. Signe tilted her to the side slightly. "What is it?" Jameson put his index finger up, silently saying that he needed a minute before he sank down below the bar.

Signe raised an eyebrow and leaned over the bar counter to see what he was doing only to have him pop up a second later, showcasing a piece of chalk with glee. He flipped over his chalkboard and scribbled on it, his eyebrows furrowed in conversation, his mustache twitching with every other letter. He finally flipped it back over to show Signe.

" _How come you aren't surprised/scared by my existence?"_

"Well, I assumed that you existed as well since. . . ." Signe looked down at her feet and rubbed her arm subconsciously.

Jameson frowned a bit before he erased his message with his sleeve and wrote a new one. " _Anti?"_  

Signe nodded. Jameson placed a hand on Signe's shoulder having her look up at him. He was giving her a sympathetic smile that said it all.

She smiled back. "Thanks."

Jameson nodded before he seemed to have remembered something. He put up his index finger and began scribbling on his chalkboard.

" _I must take you down to the shelter immediately!"_

Signe furrowed her eyebrows as Jameson opened up a small gate and began pulling her through it.

"Wait, wait, what? Shelter?" Jameson seemed a tad frustrated for a moment as he hastily erased his chalkboard. He scribbled down another message and showed it to Signe, giving her less time to read it.

" _You must know the others if you know me. We've created a shelter to protect us. I have to get you down there immediately."_

"But wh-" Jameson put a finger to his lips and Signe cut herself off. 

Jameson pulled Signe to the other side of the bar where a carpet was placed on the floor. Jameson pushed the carpet to the side, unveiling a secret hatch to what she assumed was the entrance to the shelter he was talking about. He flipped open the hatch revealing a staircase in which lead to darkness.

Jameson gave Signe a reassuring look before politely offering her to go first. Signe gave a meek smile in return before slowly descending down the steps, the darkness slowly consuming the little light that managed to leak into the shelter. Moments after Jameson climbed in he shut the door behind him, causing the little light to vanish, making impossible for Signe to see.

Signe stopped at the bottom of the stairs, feeling absolutely lost. She turned her head to where she assumed Jameson was, going to speak when a flicker of light ignited, illuminating Jameson's face and partially the path ahead of them. He was holding a lighted candle.

Signe was going to ask where he got that when he put a finger to his lips. She reluctantly complied as Jameson moved forward.

The two walked slowly in still silence. There were so many questions and thoughts racing through Signe's head as the two moved pass barrels and crates filled with what she could only assume was alcohol and or preserved food.

Signe had experienced some amazingly strange things throughout her journey so far, but it's not like she's used to it yet. She still had millions of questions like, how are Sean's egos real? Why are they here? What does Anti want? Why is everything deserted? Where-

Signe bumped into Jameson as he suddenly came to a stop. She took a step back and allowed her eyes to wander up to the thing that caused him to stop. It was a giant metal door that was riddled with rust and there were patches of scrap bolted to the door but somehow it still looked incredibly sturdy.

Jameson's back straightened as he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, almost as if he was preparing for all hell to break loose once that door opens. He raised his fist and gave it five consecutive knocks, each one like a strong hit on a metal drum.

Then they waited for a long, tense moment until a doctor opened up the door just enough to poke his head through. He wore black framed glasses and a surgeon mask that covered the majority of his face, but because of those soft blue eyes Signe knew he was another ego.

At the sight of him something in Signe's mind clicked. And she immediately recognized the doctor. 

Henrik became extremely red in the face at the sight of Jameson. Jackson looked down at his feet, ashamed as the doctor pushed the door open even further.

Henrik was going to say something to Jameson when his eyes landed on Signe. She gave a weak smile and waved. The doctor's expression softened slightly before he turned back to Jameson. He grabbed Jameson by the arm and dragged him inside. Henrik then walked over to Signe and hurriedly ushered her inside as well, shutting the door behind them.

Henrik yanked down his mask and turned to Jameson, furious.

"Do you know how vorried I vas?! I didn't know vhere you vere! You could have been dead in a ditch for all I knew!" he barked. "You can't just vander off like zat, Jameson!  _Especially_ ven you're supposed to be on bed rest!" Jameson was still staring down at his feet as he made a few obscure hand motions in which Signe recognized as sign language, although she didn't know what he said. "It doesn't matter if ze episodes have stopped! You still can be infected! Do you know how dangerous zat is?!" Jameson didn't respond. "Jameson Jackson, you look at me ven I am talking to you!"

Jameson lifted his head to reveal that he was on the verge of bursting into tears. Henrik opened his mouth to say something else only to sigh deeply. He walked over to Jameson and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Jameson. But you can't just. . . do zings like zis. It's too dangerous and you know zat."

Jameson sniffed. Schneeplestein placed his other hand on Jameson's opposite shoulder and looked him in the eye. "I don't vant to lose anozer friend to zat bastard." Henrik's eyes flickered over to Signe for a moment before turning back to Jameson. "Go get settled in ze kitchen. Ve'll talk zis over a nice cup of coffee in a moment."

Henrik smiled, patting Jackson on the shoulder before he trudged off silently. Henrik turned to Signe, holding his hands behind his back. "I'm sorry you had to vitness zhat, Ms. Hansen."

"Uh, it's alright. I. . . kinda understand where you were coming from?"

"Right, you must be very confused."

"Yeah. . . what the hell is going on?" 

"Vell. . . zat's rather a long story. A long story zat I don't even know all ze details to."

"Could you give me a summary?"

"Certainly. Alzough, I zink you vould favor ze tale a lot more if you vere vearing actual clothes." Signe looked down and felt a sudden rush of embarrassment. She had almost forgotten that she was wearing only a hospital gown.

"Uh, yes, yes I would favor that very much."

"Come vith me zen." Signe followed Henrik through a hallway that branched off from what seemed like a living room. It had a gray carpet that seemed to have been white at some point and two moldy chairs that were placed in front of a book shelf that lacked most of it's books and singular radio perched upon a small table.

The hallway was poorly lighted with wooden floorboards that creaked under the weight of their feet. The two passed by two bedroom doors, one had a whiteboard with a marker holder on the side. It read: "You are who you choose to be. I choose to be Jackieboy Man." An odd quote Signe would have to say.

The other door had some leftover green paint on it that used be. . . something but it was hard to see due to all of the duct tape closing it off.

Signe brushed it off for Henrik didn't seem concerned with it. The two kept moving and the soon passed three other doors. Two weren't too out of the ordinary other than one having a nail sticking out of it, but who knows what mysteries could be hiding behind them. The other had a sign on it that said: "The Doctor Is: In", must be Henrik's room.

Schneep finally came to a stop at the very end of the hallway where yet another door stood on it was another whiteboard that read: "Keep up the PMA, Chase".

Henrik politely wrapped his knuckles on the door. "Chase? I hope I'm not bozering you, but I must ask a favor from you." A second later the door opened and for a brief moment, Signe thought that the man who was standing in that doorway was Sean. But that was only for a moment.

"Yeah?"

"Vell, Jameson came back vith a friend." Henrik stepped aside to reveal Signe. Chase put out his hand to shake, as if this were the first time they were meeting. Signe took it and shook his hand.

"Signe Hansen, but you probably already knew that." Chase smiled politely.

"Chase Brody, you probably already knew that too. Nice to finally meet you."

Signe didn't question what he meant by that since she assumed that Henrik will explain later. "You too."

"Ms. Hansen here is in need of some actual clothes. I vas hoping you could have her borrow some from you."

"Yeah, sure, come on in." Signe followed Chase into his room which had a cot completed with a pillow and a blanket, floor boards, a closet, two nails in the wall that held his brightly colored plastic gun, and a dresser with a frame of Chase's family photo placed on top of it. 

"Zank you, friend. I'll leave you two alone for ze time being, I'll be in ze kitchen vith Jameson if you need me." Henrik headed off without another word, leaving Chase and Signe.

"Go on, have a seat, I'll look through my closet for something for you," Chase said as he gestured to his cot.

Signe sat down on the edge of it and waited patiently as Chase opened his closet and rooted through his clothes. Signe stared at his beige colored wall and trying to only focus on positive things rather than relish in all of the awful things she has witnessed.

She found this quite hard to do, since when she tried to think of something positive she thought of Sean's new motto "PMA". And when she thought of his motto she thought of Sean and when she thought of Sean she thought of him dead or worse yet at the hands of Anti. And when she thought of Anti-

_Clink_

Signe furrowed her eyebrows as she looked down at her feet. The thing that had bumped the back of her heel she found was an empty whiskey bottle. She immediately straightened up, feeling that she had found something she shouldn't have. "What was that?" Chase called from over his shoulder.

"Uh, I'm not sure, might be a rat or something," she lied.

"Huh, gonna have to talk to Schneep about that one," Chase murmured.

Desperate to change the subject, Signe spoke up. "So, um. . . are you and Henrik like the bosses around here?"

"I wouldn't exactly say 'like a boss', we're more. . . I guess, caretakers. We both watch over the younger egos and take care of them."

"Younger? But aren't you all the same age?"

"Jack always thought of us as different ages so that's how we act. Like me and Schneep are supposed to be much older than Jameson or Jackieboy Man." Chase finally pulled out a pile of clothes and placed them next to Signe. "I'm going to step out so you can change, just knock on the door when you're ready."

Chase headed out and closed the door behind him, leaving only Signe, the pile of clothes, and her own thoughts.


	4. Brick by Brick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brick by brick  
> The story builds  
> Brick by brick  
> People get killed  
> Brick by brick  
> Their story starts coming to the end  
> Brick by brick  
> V̵̮̇C̸͜͠B̴͔̚I̸̢I̸͖E̴̼̐Ũ̶͇g̵̡͑Ṡ̷̫S̴̱͝B̸̛̩S̸̟̅I̸̥͝E̶̠̽Y̸̮͐g̵̼̈Q̷͚͠S̴͎̎B̸͍U̷̳͒I̶̹̐E̸̼͘Ǔ̴̗g̵̰͒S̴̠͝S̸̈͜B̵̠̽T̴̫̐I̶̪̐E̷̻͗k̸͕͒g̷̣͘Ṯ̸̑í̶̟Ḇ̸͒Z̶̜͂Ì̷͜Ẽ̴̖8̸͙̾g̶̣̊Ṿ̵͠S̷̢̛B̴̫̄S̵̯͆I̶͇͠E̵̻̽g̸̻̈́g̸̳͝Q̸̠S̵̞͆B̶͎̚O̷͙͠Ī̷̝E̴̙͆Q̵̯̒g̷̫Ȗ̶̩w̸͍̆=̶͙͠=̴̗͘

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what I'm even doing with the summaries anymore.  
> All I have to explain the bottom text is 1̷͎̱̩̓͜1̵̢̝̅̈͆̅1̶̦̈́̔̏0̵̱̹1̶͇̻̯̂͌ͅ0̴̥̒̔͝1̷̟̳̜̈̐̋ ̵̹͍̠̏͂͑̅1̸͎͛͝͝1̶̣͘1̷̘̼̫̫͌̈́͐̌0̷̞̫̈́̐̚0̶̨̙̈1̷͖̎̋̐1̴͎̌̋͝ ̵̨̣̭̑̈̆1̷͓̋̓̈͝1̴̪̈́́0̴̜͂0̷̭͍̝͑̎̈́͠1̴̜͔͓̉̃̇̚0̴͍͕̍̊̑͛1̶̭̂͋̚ ̷̨̏̐̉̇1̵͖̻̄̋̈0̷̣͖̞͙͒̕̕0̵̧͔̝̠̓0̶̼͌͐͝0̴̢͉̰̩͝0̴̡̪̤̱͒̌̈ ̴̧̼̻̼̔̆̎̚1̶̱̙̯̎͌1̸̢̜͈̠̄̒0̷̨̝͖͔̂̑̆0̷̜̒̇̓0̶͔̞̰̿͘1̸̱̗͆0̶͚͗̐́͋ ̴̭͆̅͘1̵̢͉͋̅̈̽͜1̴̘̥̅̀͠0̸̞̂̿0̸̬͔̄̌̍̕0̴̖̫̝̽0̵̡̗̞̄̽1̴̝͛̎ ̸͍̅̋1̶̩̟̙͂̊1̵̫͕̋̆͛1̵̡̦̳̰̋͐͘0̸̰̈̀͌0̶̛̫͚̗̱̏̌̑1̷͎̞̈́͛̄1̵̠̥̮̈͊̌ ̴̧̢̯̒1̸̛̙͍̒̅1̴̢̮͚̉͆͠͝0̶̮̈͜0̷̬̝̜̓1̴̮̗̓́̅͒0̷̧̲̘̀̓1̶̂͐̚͜͜ ̴̯̗̠̃̄̀͠ͅ1̸̩̉0̴̱̫͖̉̅́̎0̷̘̓͗̐̂ͅ0̴̰̄͜0̵͔̞̋0̵̬̩͒͐ ̶̺̖͚͊1̷̢̦̮̈͘͝1̸̛͉̳̙͠0̷̢̪͕̟̃1̴͙̼͉̑͆̐͝1̵̗̓̈0̴̭́͌ ̴̡̡̭̰̌̇͆̏1̷̳̲̪͈̔͆̚͝1̷̩̣̻͂̃͜0̸͔̘͑1̸̧̪̣̚0̶̢̗̤̒͆͜0̶̛̺̜

Signe took off the hospital gown and put on the clothes that Chase provided her with. Which consisted of an old sweatshirt, black skinny jeans, and a pair of white socks. She should have guessed that he didn't have any women's underwear on him, but it still disappointed her that she had to continue going commando.

Signe walked up to the door to knock on it, notifying that she was done when something stopped her briefly. The sound of building static and the world around her breaking apart, brick by brick, piece by piece, pixel by pixel. But this was only for a brief instance. A second later, it was gone and everything righted itself. Signe shook her head.

Her fear and imagination must be taking advantage of her. Yeah, just fear and an overactive imagination. Nothing to worry about. Just little glitch.

Signe rapped her knuckles onto the door and Chase pushed it open then stepped aside so that she could step out into the hallway.

"Does that outfit fit alright?"

Signe gave him a thumbs up. "Fits great."

"Good to hear, I was worried that my clothes might be a little too big for you." Chase went to go into his room when he seemed to have remembered something. He then turned around to face Signe. "Before I forget, the doc wants to talk you in the kitchen."

Signe raised an eyebrow. "And where is that?"

"Straight down the hall to the left, should be the door left of the entrance. It's the only white door here, you can't miss it."

"Thanks, Chase."

"Anytime." Chase shut the door having Signe to walked down the hallway once again this time alone. As she was doing so she noticed the door which had a nail sticking out of it was now holding Jameson's chalkboard, although it didn't really have anything written on it.

She continued her journey, following Chase's directions and came across the kitchen door. She grabbed the silver handle and pushed it open to reveal Henrik sitting at a small table with a cup of coffee in his hands and another sitting across from him.

The kitchen was fairly small and plain. It had a single ice box, a hot plate, a single sink, and just a few cupboards. The walls were white and plain and the floor was a simple tile that was slightly damaged.

Henrik turned to Signe and smiled. "Ah, Ms. Hansen. Please, sit down." He gestured to the seat opposite of him.

Signe did as he said and took her seat. She looked up at the steaming cup of coffee in front of her and cautiously took it, unsure if it was actually for her. When Henrik made no objections she took it into her hands. "Now, Ms. Hansen-"

"Uh, sorry, but could you just call me Signe? Ms. Hansen feels a bit too formal."

"Certainly. So, Signe, you vant to know vat happened?" Signe nodded. "Alright. Bare vith me, I don't know much of how zis all came to be." Signe took a small sip from her cup of coffee, listening to Henrik intently. "Vell, it occurred a little vile after I vas back from my vacation and Anti's longing for taking control had grown stronger since I vas gone. He did. . . somezing zat viped out at least ninety percent of ze population, including our dear friend, Jack."

Signe furrowed her eyebrows together. "W-What do you mean by 'wiped out?" she asked, worry in her voice.

"Zey just. . . disappeared. Ve don't know vhere zey vent."

"Is there any chance that we can find them?"

"Zat's vat ve're trying to figure out. For ze past few months ve have been trying to find Jack."

"Any leads?"

"Uh. . . vell, ve zink zat Anti might know vhere he is, but ve can't risk getting so close to him to really negotiate."

"Well he doesn't seem like the type to negotiate with anyway," Signe said with a small smile.

Henrik chuckled. "I guess not." There was a small moment of awkward silence where neither one of them knew what to say with one another. Henrik was the one to break that silence. "Vell, do you have anymore questions for me, Mi- Signe?"

"Um, yes. I woke up today in the hospital and I found that you were the doctor who treated me. I would just like to ask why I was there in the first place?"

"Ah yes, a few days before. . . it happened, you vere rushed into ze hospital. You had a very serious illness."

Signe raised an eyebrow. "How serious?"

"Vell, I. . . can't remember vat it's called but I know zat ze symptoms included: itchy eyes, fatigue, severe coughing, hallucinations, uncontrollable twitching. . . ."

Signe's eyes widened. "It was really that bad?"

Schneeplestein rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah." Henrik cleared his throat, put down his mug, and stood up from his chair. "Vell, if ve're done here, I zink I should show you vhere you're going to sleep tonight."

"Uh, yeah, just, hold on a second." Signe finished off her drink before getting up. Henrik opened the kitchen door and lead her down the hallway once again. This time he stopped at the only plain door. He opened it and allowed Signe to step in first.

Before her was what looked like a small infirmary with two cots complete with a blanket and pillow, a nightstand in between them with a single lamp on top, a med kit placed on the wall, a jar full of tongue depressors on a counter, a box of rubber gloves, a sink, a few cupboards, and a small trash can in the corner near the entrance.

One of the cots was being occupied by Jameson who hastily hid something underneath his pillow upon seeing Signe. He smiled innocently at Signe and waved, she waved back.

"Here is ze infirmary. It's ze only room here vith a free bed." The closed off bedroom door popped into Signe's mind and she was going to bring it up before she thought that it was probably closed off for a good reason. "Vell, I'll let you get settled. Shout if you need anyzing." Henrik made his exit quietly.

"Alright, see you, Henrik." Henrik shut the door behind him as Signe approached the empty cot across from Jackson and sat down. She looked up at Jameson who had his hands on his stomach and his eyes trained on the ceiling. Signe raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here, Jameson? Don't you have your own room?"

Jameson looked over at Signe and sat up. He reached into his back pocket and fished out a notebook he then pulled out a pen from his front pocket. He flipped open the notebook and popped off the pen cap with a flourish. He then scribbled down his message before he handed Signe the notebook.

" _Henrik has declared that I am ill._ "

Signe quirked an eyebrow. "You don't look sick." Signe handed him back the notebook and he flipped another page before he scribbled down another message this time with much more fervently. He flipped it over to showed Signe.

" _That's what I have been telling him! But he says it's too much of a risk._ " In the corner of the page there was a grumpy doodle of himself. Signe looked up from the notebook to see that he really did capture his pouty-ness.

He sat there, pouting for a moment before his expression softened. Jameson grabbed his notebook from Signe, flipped the page over, and began writing on the fresh one. " _But, I do know where he is coming from. He just doesn't want to lose me like how he lost Marvin._ "

Signe raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Who's-" Signe found that she had forgotten an ego.

Marvin the Magnificent. How could she possibly forget about him? ". . . What do you mean Henrik 'lost' Marvin?" Jameson wrote another message and showed it to Signe.

" _Marvin was still recovering after being infected by one of us when he went out to get some 'fresh air'. He never came back._ "

"Oh, I'm. . . I'm so sorry." Jameson tore off the previous message, crumpled it up into a ball and threw it across the room, missing the trash bin. He frowned as he wrote his final message.

" _It's alright. It actually feels nice to talk about it._ "

"Do you not get to talk about it?" Jameson shook his head and jabbed his thumb to the direction of the door.

Signe raised an eyebrow at his gesture. "Henrik?" Jameson nodded. "Well that seems unfair." Jameson nodded before he put his notebook and pen on the nightstand and pulled out a deck of cards encased in a transparent plastic case from underneath his pillow. He raised an eyebrow at Signe and shook the case, silently asking if she wanted to play.

Signe shrugged. "Sure. What are we playing?"

Jameson made a circular motion near his temple and crossed his eyes before he held up eight fingers. Signe smiled smugly as she cracked her knuckles. "Oh, well I don't know if you know this, James, but I am a _pro_ at crazy eights."

Jameson smirked and shrugged as he began shuffling the cards.

* * *

The two played for what only seemed as such a little while, but soon after their fifth game a knock came upon the infirmary door. They looked over just in time to see Chase poking his head into the door.

"Hey, lights out is in ten minutes."

"Aw, what? We have a curfew?"

"Yeah, doc's orders. It not only saves us power, but it's a lot better for everyone's health."

Signe crossed her arms and pouted. "Lame."

"Hey, I'm just trying to help you here. Trust me, you do not want Schneep catching you awake past lights out. He'll start yelling in German then forcefully tucking you in before resorting to shouting very aggressive bed time stories to you." Signe couldn't help but laugh at this, however she stopped once she saw the look of seriousness on Chase's face.

She wiped the smile off her face before speaking once again. "We'll be in bed in ten."

"Good." Chase closed the door, leaving Jameson and Signe alone once again.

"Henrik is really strict, huh?" Jameson packed away the cards before reaching for his notebook and pen. He wrote down a new message and showed it to Signe.

" _Yeah, but it's only because he cares about us._ " Signe put Jameson's notebook down on the nightstand as he kicked off his shoes.

"I guess can understand that." Signe stood up and drew back the blanket she was provided before climbing in.

Jameson took off his top hat, undid his bow tie, and took off his bright blue vest, placing the clothing items neatly on the floor. He then climbed into his own cot as well and lay on his back, his hands resting on his stomach.

Signe, feeling amazingly tired, pulled up the covers, turned over on her side and murmured, "G'night, Jameson" before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 

Darkness. Darkness as far as the eye could see. A heavy silence sitting around the environment. A peaceful place in which Signe spent many months in. She liked this place.

There was no fear. No troubles or worries. No anything. Just peace and quiet and the silent promise that she was safe.

Her peaceful sanctuary was soon broken into by a soft knocking in the distance. At first, it wasn't anything to worry about. But with each passing second the knocking grew louder and louder and louder.

_Knock, knock._

_Knock, knock._

Signe wished that it would just go away, but her wishes were silenced by the now thundering knocks. Her whole world around her was shaking with each and every knock.

Eventually her world broke away to reveal a bedroom door with faded green paint on it and tape stretched across it's doorway, enclosing it. The door pulsated with each and every knock. And it got closer with each and every knock.

Signe wanted it to go away, she needed it to go away. She's going to have to open the door. She's going to have to.

Swallowing all her fear she stepped forward, the knocking stronger than ever. She pulled down the tape and rested her hand on the knob. She took in a deep breath before pushing it open, ceasing the infernal knocking.

On the other side it there was a room complete with a cot, a closet, and the hardwood floor filled with magical books and thrown out tricks scattered about it. The place was an absolute mess. Trash littered about, dust collecting anywhere it could, and cobwebs forming in between multiple items at Signe's feet.

On the cot, sitting in the corner, was a man that was shrouded in a cape and crying. A broken mask sitting behind him.

Signe furrowed her eyebrows as she slowly approached the man. His sobs growing louder with each step she took. She sat down on the edge of his cot and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay?" The man did not answer, he continued his crying as if he could not hear Signe. She shook him slightly. "Sir?" She shook him this time more forcefully. "Sir?!" Signe turned the man around to see his cold, dead eyes staring back at her. Signe jumped back and shrieked as Marvin fell on his back, limp.

His cheeks were still stained with tears, but his skin was pale and his throat was slit wide open. Tears streamed down Signe's cheeks as she shrank down onto the floor, horrified at the sight.

His fingers twitched slightly before his arms began moving. His image flickering as he sat himself up. His cold, dead eyes now a vibrant green, staring down at Signe maliciously.

He was grinning down at her, sickeningly so. " _You could have saved him. But you just ran away, like a coward!"_

"No!" Signe sobbed as the man stood up. He was now towering over her curled up body. "No! No!"

" _You couldn't save him. And you can't save them!"_

Signe began crawling away from him only to back herself into a wall. But, she saw that the door was still open and there still was a space between her and it. There was still hope of escape.

Without a second thought, Signe got to her feet and went for it, not thinking of anything else. She could practically taste freedom when he caught her by the wrist and pulled her back to him. She looked back at him, fear in her eyes. " _Because now you're mine!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey if any of you guys are wondering how I so easily make these glitchy texts and codes I would totally recommend using these two websites:  
> https://lingojam.com/GlitchTextGenerator  
> https://v2.cryptii.com/text/pigpen  
> They can convert and translate cryptic messages.


	5. The Bad Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> vi·rus  
> /ˈvīrəs/  
> noun
> 
> An infective agent that typically consists of a nucleic acid molecule in a protein coat, is too small to be seen by light microscopy, and is able to multiply only within the living cells of a host.  
> "ȃ̸̖͍͖͠ ̵̝̫͙̙̊͗̕̕v̵̖̒͗ḯ̷̩̙̦r̷̡̦͚̋u̶̦̒s̶̮̗̠̄̆ ̷̞̾͠į̴̠̼̐͝n̵͉̎͠f̷̓͜e̵̢̓͂̆̚c̴͓̙̓̔͒̽t̴̛̠i̷̜͂̅̚ỏ̵̢͙̼͕n̸͎̥̓"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long, I was going through a little block and I had to rewrite this like ten times, but the good thing is, it's here. So please enjoy.

"Miss Signe! Miss Signe, you must vake up!" Signe awoke with a sharp gasp almost as if she had been stabbed in the previous moment. She was coated in a thin sheet of sweat, her eyes wide and strangely dry, and her foot, her fingers, her neck - her whole body was twitching uncontrollably.

Beside her the lamp that was turned on, was bright. Way too bright. Bright enough to make her itchy eyes water. Around her was a crowd of the egos. Henrik, Jameson, Chase, and. . . one she doesn't think she's seen before.

Henrik was hovering above her with his surgical mask, lab coat, gloves, and glasses on as well as an old, green "Kiss me, I'm a Doctor" shirt. He was the only one that held a calm expression.

Jameson was worriedly pacing silently behind Henrik. Sitting in a chair, beside the doctor was Chase was wearing a very concern expression as well as flamingo shorts and his classic gray T-shirt. And finally, seated below the foot of Signe's cot was the ego in which she has not seen before.

He wore a red onesie, a slightly torn blue cape, and a currently lopsided blue mask, indicating that he put it on in a hurry. Before Signe could ask who he was supposed to be Henrik spoke from beneath his mask. "Signe, do you know vhere you are?"

An odd question, Signe thought. "I-In th-the shelter." The twitching subsided slightly as she said this.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Henrik V-Von Schneeplestein."

"Good. Do you know who zis is?" He pointed to Chase.

"Chase Brody." The twitching soon stopped.

"Good. And vat about zem?" Henrik then gestured to Jameson and the unknown ego.

"Jameson Jackson and. . . and. . . I don't know who that is." The ego seemed offended at this as he straightened his mask. And it didn't seem that he was the only one disappointed in her reaction.

Henrik frowned slightly, the wrinkles in his mask increasing in size. He pulled out a small, cylindrical light and held Signe's eye open as he turned it on, making her eye feel even more agitated.

"Zat is Jackieboy Man, Miss Signe," he explained calmly. "I believe you and Jack have vorked vith him before."

A flash of a memory of Signe editing Sean's stupid video appeared in her mind and she soon remembered the hero that Sean had created.

"Eh, kind of," Signe admitted with a shrug. "I remember editing for that video. And-" Signe laughed, "I remember Sean running through the house in that costume."

Schneeplestein turned off the miniature light and retracted from Signe, surveying her closely. "Miss Signe, could you tell me vat vere you dreaming of or if you vere dreaming?" Signe opened her mouth to tell Henrik about her strange dream, however as she thought of it more of it escaped from her until it finally vanished from her memory.

"I. . . I don't remember."

"Hm. Your eyes, do zey feel itchy or normal?"

Signe rubbed her irritated eye. "Itchy."

"Do you see anyzing out of ze ordinary in zis room?" Signe shook her head. "All vight. All vight," Henrik murmured before standing up. "Jameson," Jameson stopped his pacing upon hearing his name, "I need you to come vith in my lab. I must run a few tests. As for you two, keep Miss Signe avake as long as possible, notify me if somezing happens, alvight?"

"Got it, doc."

"You can count on us, Henrik," Jackieboy Man said with a salute.

Henrik nodded before heading out, Jameson following close behind him.

Signe turned to the remaining egos. "What's going on?"

"Eh, you're just a little sick is all," Chase said with a shrug.

"With all the commotion this doesn't feel like a little sickness."

"Well, of course there was commotion, you were screaming at the top of your lungs!" exclaimed Jackieboy.

Signe raised an eyebrow. "Screaming? But, why would I. . ." Signe searched through her recent memories to try to remember why she would be screaming.

"It was just a nightmare," said Chase calmly.

Almost as if on cue, right after the word "nightmare" left Chase's lips Signe could hear from somewhere in the back of the room a haunting chuckle. Her head snapped up and she looked around the room in fear. Chase knitted his eyebrows together. "Are you alright?"

Signe turned to Chase. "You didn't hear that?" Chase exchanged a confused look with Jackieboy Man.

"Hear what?" he asked.

"That-that laugh. You're telling me that you didn't hear that?" The two egos shook their heads in unison. "But how could you. . ."

Chase placed the back of his hand on Signe's forehead as he observed her with worry. "You're heating up. J-2, could you go get a damp towel for me?" Jackieboy Man stood up proudly and beamed down at Chase.

"Can do!" And with that he ran off at a surprising speed, going to fetch said towel.

Signe raised an eyebrow. "J-2?"

"It's short for Jack 2."

"Why do you call him Jack 2?"

"Don't tell him I said this, but," Chase leaned in and cupped a hand around his mouth, "his real name is actually Jack," he whispered causing Signe to smile. Chase leaned back. "So to avoid confusion we called him Jack 2 sometimes, or J-2 and it just kinda stuck."

"Huh." An awkward silence began to settle in, urging one of them break it. Due to Signe being more uncomfortable with silence she was the one to cut through the heavy silence. "So, how exactly did you guys build this shelter?"

"Oh, um, we didn't really 'build it'."

Signe tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when Marvin was still. . . around and we were still on the run from Anti we came across this bar and saw that it had a basement. Now when we got here it was just a place to store food and liquor, but it was Marvin who created this shelter."

"How?"

Chase shrugged. "I don't know, he never told me." Chase let out a small laugh as he reminisced. "It amazes me every time. Even though he spilled out the secrets to his parlor tricks any chance he got he never revealed his secrets to his real magic."

" _You know how magicians are._ " That phrase seemed to echo throughout the infirmary. The sound of his voice causing goosebumps to race across Signe's skin and the hairs on her neck to stand up.

"Are you cold?"

"Um, yeah, kinda," she lied as she tried to smooth down the hairs on her arms. She was actually the exact opposite, she felt like she had on twelve sweaters.

Chase hummed lowly at the sight of her. "You still feeling okay? Do you want me to get the doc?"

"No, no, I'm. . . fine."

Chase sighed. "Alright." There was yet another moment of silence before Chase spoke up again. "So, it seems you and James are getting along pretty well."

"Uh, yeah. He's a real cool guy to talk to and he's fun to play cards with."

Chase smiled slightly. "Yeah, just don't play poker with him, he'll rob you blind." Signe laughed lightly at this. "But, I'm really happy you two get along so well. Jameson doesn't really like to socialize all that much."

"Really? He doesn't strike me as an introvert."

"Well he didn't used to be. He used to talk non-stop."

"What happened?"

"When Marvin. . . went off, he just locked himself in his room and didn't come out for days. When he finally came out he was just. . . quiet." Signe frowned at this. "You can't really blame the kid, he was the closest to Marvin out of all of us." Chase sighed. "I just wish he would talk to us. Keeping something bottled up like that is not good, I should know." Chase's eyes traveled at the wall beside Signe and they became unfocused as he went on to speak. "I'll catch him sleep walking sometimes while I'm on guard duty. He'll be outside Marvin's room, murmuring silently to the door, almost as if he's speaking to it."

"Murmur? But. . . Jameson can't speak. Right?" Chase's head snapped up, his eyes wide.

"Did I space out again?" He sighed heavily as he looked down at his feet. "Damn it, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say anything."

Before Signe could say anything else in came Jackieboy Man, holding above his head a damp towel as if it were a trophy.

"I have retrieved the towel!" he said proudly.

Chase turned to him and smiled. "Thanks, man. Bring it over here." Jackieboy ran over and handed Chase the towel. Chase then placed it onto Signe's forehead. She sighed in relief, the coolness against her hot skin absolute bliss. "Feel better?"

"Mhm." She closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the sensation.

"Signe, hey, don't fall asleep on me." But Signe didn't want to open her eyes, she wanted just another moment. Just one more little moment.

That moment soon became a minute in which her breathing became even. She could feel Chase trying to shake her awake, she could hear him and Jack speaking to her, but she couldn't hear what they were saying and she didn't want to.

Eventually Her mind shut off, blocking all sounds and all sensations as she drifted away into blissful unconsciousness.

No more noise. No more people. No more. . . .

* * *

Signe opened her eyes to see before her, once again, her peaceful void. Rid of all sounds. All people. All problems. Her happy place. Her safe place. Or at least that's what it seemed to be.

At the very edge of her void she could hear someone talking, but she couldn't understand what they were saying. Curiosity getting the better of her, Signe moved toward the sound, the murmuring becoming louder and louder with each step she took.

At what seemed like the very end of her void she could see a figure dressed in blue and in front of. . . something. Signe began running toward the figure, needing to know why they're here, what they wanted.

She eventually arrived next to the stranger.

He had dark brown hair and a black mustache with a goatee to match. He wore baby blue pajamas with white pinstripes. His eyes were closed and he was whispering almost unconsciously.

Signe furrowed her eyebrows together. She tried shaking the man to rouse him, but it didn't seem to work.

"Sir? Sir?" He didn't respond, he just continued his murmuring.

Confused, Signe walked around the man to at least see what he was talking to. In front of him was a bedroom door with faded green paint on it, it seemed to be. . . condemned. How curious.

The man's murmurings soon became louder and louder until Signe could finally understand what he was saying.

"I will do whatever you say, Marvin. Whatever you say. Whatever you say. I trust you, Marvin. I trust you. I trust you." A knocking was heard from the other side of the door and it went to the beat of the man's words. The man continued. "You never lie, Marvin. You would never lie. I trust you, Marvin. I trust you." The knocking was becoming as loud as the man's words, it was becoming hard to understand the man himself. "I'll kill them if you need me to, Marvin. I trust you. I will do anything for you, Marvin. I trust you."

The knocking was unbearable when finally the door burst open, revealing Anti, puppeteering Marvin's corpse. He wore his wicked grin as he stepped closer to Jameson, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He looked over at Signe, still grinning. He began speaking in unison with Jameson.

" _You never lie, Anti. I'll always trust you, Anti. I'll do whatever you say, Anti. I'll die for you, Anti._ " Anti grabbed the side of Jameson's head and swiftly twisted it, emitting an unnerving crack.

Signe screamed as Jameson's lifeless body fell to the ground and Anti approached her. He grabbed her by the throat and looked her in the eyes. His wild green ones seemingly staring into her soul.

" _You're next, puppet!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would have called this "Down with the Sickness", but I'm sticking with my promise on naming each one after an Arctic Monkeys song.


	6. Don't Forget Whose Legs You're On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I've got no strings  
> To hold me down  
> To make me fret  
> Or make me frown  
> I had strings  
> B̶͍͖͓̭̰͔͆̔̾̀͝ ̸̨̭͈͍̐̃͘͝Ứ̵͖͍͔̘͌̕͝ ̶̎̓̓̕ͅT̸͙̜̻̲̺͎̾͑͠ ̶̜̰̼̫̍̎͂̌͋N̴̙͚̰̈́̀̅ ̴͍̤̩̊͛̈́̅̿ͅO̴͍͉̜̎͐͗͜ ̷͍̱͚̣̯̄͛́̈́́̈́W̵̞̟͓͕̗͊̾͋̍̾͝ ̴̪̼̓̅̈́͒̕͘Į̷͔͉͆͜͝ ̸̹̩̊'̷̤̳͉̲̮͊͊̒̉͋͝ ̴̳̒ͅM̶̢̨̻͓̂̂̆̎̑̕͜ ̸͕̹̟͒̾F̷̰̠̲͙͎͆̄̑̃ͅ ̶̦͛̆̓͑̕͝R̷̗̞̟̲̒͗͜͝͝ ̸̺̪͂̈́Ẹ̴̓̎̋̓̉ ̷̙̐̆̍̄E̵̟̲͉͎̻̊͊̄  
> t h ere are n o s tr in gs on me"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so fucking sorry for the summary. And I'm sorry for what's about to happen next.

Signe awoke from her nightmare only to be thrown into an entirely new one.

She was in what looked like a small hospital room with actual functioning lights, a table that used to hold surgery instruments but now laid on its side, it's contents splayed across the linoleum floor.

She was standing on top of a operating table with a stuck-on grin on her face. She held a scalpel close to her jugular, ready to cut open her throat at any moment. Her eyes glued on Henrik whom was laying on the ground, looking up to Signe in horror.

What was going on?

"Signe, p-please I know you're in zere just-" A wicked laugh erupted from Signe's throat involuntarily.

" _It's funny how ya still think there's hope! Just face it, Henrik, ya can't save them._ " Henrik's expression hardened. He opened his mouth to speak when Anti cut in. " _Don't waste yer breath, ya know it's true, Henrik. Ya couldn't save yer family. Ya couldn't save Chase's. And ya couldn't save Marvin._ " Henrik's eyes widened as all color from his face vanished. Anti grinned wickedly. " _Oh yes, Marvin too. Weepin' like a fuckin' child, beggin' me to leave ya alone._ " Anti contorted Signe's face into a dramatic face of plea. " 'Please, spare them! I'll do whatever you want, just spare them!' " Anti cackled at his own mocking.

Tears filled Henrik's eyes as Anti spoke. Henrik cast his eyes downward as to not let him see. Anti's smile faltered slightly as the image of a roughed up Marvin, conjuring magic popped into Signe's mind. " _Y'know Marvin had true potential. If he didn't have_ _a lil' soft spot for all o' ya, he could've been alive right now. Alive and thrivin'._ " Anti resumed to his toothy grin as he stared down the doc, loving every little detail of suffering in his face. " _Y'know ya still have a chance to live the life they aren't, doc. Ya could join me and **kill every last one o' them**! 'Til we're the only ones left on top._ "

Henrik looked up at Anti, his face red with anger. "And zen vat? Vat vill you do zen, Anti? You vill be a king vith nothing to rule!"

Anti wagged a finger. " _Not true, doctor. Not true. With everyone dead I can start anew again. Create a better world! Filled with people who will not hesitate to follow any order I give. **I will be a god!**_   _And you can too, Henrik._ "

"Better vorld? Vat you are describing Anti is hell, ruled by a vanna-be devil." Anti pressed the scalpel closer to Signe's throat, coming to the point where if he presses any harder it will break the skin.

" _I don't think you're in the position to insult me, doctor._ "

"And I don't zink you're in ze position to threaten my friends, Anti!" 

Without warning Signe felt of pair of arms reach up and grab her by shoulders, putting her in a lock in which she couldn't escape. They pulled her down as Anti kicked and fought, waving Signe's arms about. He couldn't get out of the lock either but he managed to cut the unknown person's arm with the scalpel.

They hissed in pain. 

Henrik got to his feet and pulled up his mask. "Quickly, put her on ze table! On ze table!"

The person practically slammed Signe down onto her back, causing the scalpel to fall out of her hand. Anti thrashed about baring Signe's teeth.

Above Signe was Jackieboy Man with his hood down, his mask gone, a streak of blood running down from his hairline, and a surgical mask covering his face.

On the other side of the table Henrik was strapping her down hastily. Making sure that the buckles on the other side were tight enough to prevent Signe from moving. Once he secured it, he looked up at Jack and pointed to something behind him. "Jack, behind you - the sedative!"

Jackieboy turned around and grabbed a syringe filled with a green liquid. " _No! NO! DON'T YOU DARE COME NEAR ME WITH-_ " It was too late, Henrik had already injected Signe with the sedative and she was already experiencing the effects. " _You won't get rid of me! I'll still be here. I'll always be. . . ._ " Signe's body finally gave in to the sedative, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Darkness, darkness as far as the eye could see. But there was no quiet, no. There was. . . giggling. But not the giggling of Anti, no, a child's giggling. 

The darkness disappeared to unveil a beautiful, grassy backyard. It was a sunny day, the sky was a beautiful blue and there wasn't a single cloud in sight. Before Signe were two little children, running away from something and laughing.

One was a girl with straight blonde hair and soft blue eyes, she had on a pink summer dress. The other was a boy with a head full of spiky, brown hair and green eyes, he wore a gray shirt and black shorts.

"I'm gonna getcha! I'm gonna getcha!" Around the corner came Chase with a large smile on his face. He chased his kids across the yard before he scooped them up into his arms. "Ah! I gotcha!" He placed a kiss on each of their cheeks as they laughed.

Signe couldn't help but smile at the sweet scene before her.

It soon faded away before her, Chase and his kid's laughter dying down as the void resumed to it's plain darkness. And all was quiet for a very long moment.

As soon as it was over children's screams could be heard. Another scene was painted before Signe. A much darker scene than the last. The children were now running down a dark hallway as fast as their little legs could carry them. They disappeared at the far left where the scene seemed to cut off.

" _I'm gonna getcha! I'm gonna getcha!"_ Signe could see Anti following close behind them a horrible smile on his face and a knife raised above his head. She saw him as he ran off to the far left. She couldn't see what happened next. But she could hear the horrors of it

_Pitter, patter._

_Pitter, patter._

_Thump, thump._

_Thump, thump._

She could hear whimpers of the children, pleas for mercy, and even the soft hiccups that came in between the little girl's sobs. Signe could see them now, huddled together in fear, tears running down their cheeks, snot coming out of their noses, their eyes puffy and red. " _I gotcha,_ " Anti sang before he brought his knife down upon them. They let out blood curdling screams before everything faded to black once again.

Signe didn't know it until she felt a tear rolling down to her chin that she was crying. She didn't even see what had happened yet it was still horrifying.

A sobbing could be heard at the very back of the void. Signe turned around and walked toward the sound. 

And at the very end of the void, she could see Chase. Sitting on his cot, draining a bottle of whiskey, and crying over the photograph of his family. Signe began to walk slower as to not really startle him.

He didn't seem to notice when she arrived or when she sat down next to him.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey-" Chase turned to her, the whites of his eye now red, but his irises were green.

* * *

"Jameson, now's not ze time to visit her. You're just now getting better, I don't vant you to get sick again.  . . . No, Jameson, I can't let you- Jameson!"

Signe slowly stirred awake from her slumber. Her eyes bleary, her vision blurred, but she could recognize the colorful shape of Jameson hovering over her. And she could recognize Schneeplestein as he tried to pull him away. "Jameson- Jackie, help me out here!" Jackieboy Man came rushing to his side to try to pull Jameson away.

"C'mon, James!" As Signe's vision cleared she opened her mouth to protest when she was interrupted by a sudden urge to cough. Due to the inability to pull up her arm she coughed almost violently into the air, her chest rattling with each one that erupted from her throat.

The men paused as she did so. Jackieboy went over and attempted to ease her. "Signe, you need to rest, you've been through a lot." Henrik then continued to pull Jameson away.

"Wait, but, James-"

"We can't keep him here with you, it's not safe."

"But-"

"I'm sorry." Jameson disappeared through the doorway and Henrik returned with his hands on his hips and his eyes trained on the floor.

He looked up at the two and sighed. "Go sit back down, Jackie. I'll take care of her from here."

"Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine, Jackie. Go rest."

"Okay." Jackieboy retreated to a chair against the wall while Henrik walked over to Signe's bedside.

"Henrik, what happened to me?"

Henrik looked her in the eyes for a long moment, drawing a large breath through his nose. "Miss Signe, do you know vat Anti is?"

"What?"

"Do you know vat he is?"

"Uh. . . a demon?"

"Not just a demon. Anti is a virus." Signe furrowed her eyebrows.

"A virus?"

"Yes. All it takes a little exposure and he latches onto you like a parasite." Signe felt this overwhelming feeling of disgust at the thought of this. "Through zis virus he can take control of your mind and body  _if_   you don't take proper precautions.  . . . Zat incident earlier is my fault, I should have told you. If I did zen maybe zat vouldn't have happened." 

Signe pulled her eyes away from Henrik and she drew them up to the ceiling, her skin paling with each passing second.

"Is there a cure?"

"Resist Anti."

"Resist Anti? But how?"

"Don't interact vith anyzing in your dreams, no matter vat. Train your body to fight against him ven he's trying to take over. And lots and lots of rest." Henrik began pulling up a thin sheet to Signe's chest.

"That's all you can do?"

Henrik frowned. "Zat's all I can do."

" _That's all he can do._ "


	7. If You Were There, Beware

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cure?  
> What cure?  
> T̵̰͍̤͊̒h̸̗͗̐̂͌ḙ̸̱͘̕r̶̛̭͕͇͛̊̊e̴̖̥̪͙͂ ̸̫̆̄i̷̜̹̥̿̀s̵̠̻̗͓̃͂̚ ̷̝̣̟̆͆͜ň̶̨͙͂̈́̓ ̸͍͚̲̽͊̌̂ő̴̗̬̦ ̶͇̌c̵̗̯̿͑u̶͍̭̜͑̽͗ ̴̨͚̌͑͒r̴͕̭̰̪͂ ̷̨̬̠͖̏̏̈́̚e̸͕̙̬̝̒͋̅

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, if I made some sort of grammatical error in this chapter or a certain sentence sounds strange, tell me. I will be very grateful.

"What do you mean that's all you can do? Henrik, there has to be some sort of vaccine - something!" 

Henrik sighed. "I'm afraid not. Even vith samples of the virus, I can't create anyzing zat can help. Not vithout a proper lab."

"Okay, w-what about medicine? Medicine could help!"

"I only have access to ibuprofen, it eases ze pain very slightly. If I had anyzing else it can probably lessen ze symptons, but zat's all."

"But-"

"Please, Signe, try to get some rest," he said as he pulled up her covers. "After you wake up, zen I'll talk about control-"

"No! I'm not just going to  _go to sleep now!_ _Not when_ -"

"Signe, take in a deep breath. You mustn't let your anger control you." Signe pursed her lips together and glared at Henrik before taking in a deep breath through her nose to calm down.

She paused before speaking again. "Henrik, you were talking about that you needed a proper lab to make a vaccine. Is there any possibility that you can find one?"

"I vill have to go outside and search for a facility vith such a lab. And I can't do zat."

Signe furrowed her eyebrows. "Why not?"

"Zat vould mean leaving ze safety of zis shelter, vhere Anti vill be vaiting." Signe's anger began to bubble inside her once again.

"So what? You're afraid of dying? Why should that stop you from helping those in need?"

"I am ze only doctor here. If I leave and don't come back I can't help zem. I can't insure zeir safety." Signe's expression softened. "I'm sorry zat I can't help you in any ozer way." Henrik patted her hand. "Try to get some sleep. Alright?"

Signe nodded and looked down at the blanket resting comfortably on her stomach. "Alright." Henrik gave her a small smile before joining Jackieboy Man in the chairs.

Signe stared at the wall ahead of her before slightly shifting her position to make herself a little more comfortable and closing her eyes.

* * *

An unseen pianist played an upbeat tune as Signe opened her eyes to see the vast and dark void before her once. Signe felt a great unease, seeing the void. She could just feel something sinister lurking underneath the playful tune that filled her ears.

A spotlight shone on a man in the distance, standing on a miniature stage and wearing a bright blue vest and a giant smile as he waved Signe over.

Signe looked over her shoulder, thinking - or perhaps hoping - that he was trying to catch someone else's attention. Alas, this was not the case, he was in fact calling her over.

Signe looked back at the man and swallowed hard. She made slow steps toward him, fearing whatever he had in store. As she got closer she found something. . . odd about his movements. His limbs seemed entirely too stiff, yet he moved ever so freely.

She was about eight feet away from the stage when he held up the palm of his hand, silently telling her to stop. Once she did Signe noticed something else odd about this man.

Below his small top hat was a head full of dark brown hair that seemed to glow brightly under the spot light, unnaturally so. As did his skin that did not hold an ounce of color beneath it. And it seemed like his hair was carved out of wood, for not even a single strand of hair stepped out of formation as he moved about. His blue eyes seemed like they were made of glass for they were glossed over and held no emotion behind them. 

Yet with all of these puppet-like traits, he didn't quite seem like a puppet. He could still change his expressions and move his fingers without the aid of a puppeteer to switch out his many different features.

Suddenly the upbeat piano music ceased. Jameson stood tall, with his hands at his sides, smiling widely. The piano music started up again this time being a little more introductory. Jameson waved excitedly to Signe and she awkwardly returned the greeting.

Jameson begun his "show" by walking over to stage left. He had his hands in his pockets, whistling a soundless tune as the music switched to match the scene.

Signe raised an eyebrow while she watched Jameson's pleasant stroll. Something was off about this. Something was very off.

In the middle of his walk he stopped for he had stumbled upon something shiny on stage. Jameson put on an over exaggerated look of surprise before picking it up. He displayed it to Signe with a joyful look. His blue eyes turning a wild green underneath the spotlight.

Signe's breath became shallow and every muscle in her body tensed up at the sight of the item.

Jameson was holding a very large knife.

He hopped around in glee, admiring the knife and praising it silently as other spotlights behind him began to flicker on. The spotlights revealed more puppets that represented Chase, Henrik, and Jackieboy Man. They were all smiling, sickeningly so.

Jameson looked around and his expression much like a kid in a candy store. He turned his head from left to right, biting his lip while he decided who to go to first. Finally making his decision, he walked over to Jackieboy Man and swiftly stabbed him in the stomach. Signe bellowed a blood curdling shriek as Jameson took out the knife.

Jackieboy fell to the ground with a thud, staring at Signe with dull glass eyes while he bled out.

Tears filled Signe's eyes as Jameson went over to Chase to do the same.

"Jameson, stop it!" He ignored her and pulled Chase downstage so that Signe got a better look at him. Jameson stood beside Chase, putting a hand on the small of his back to support Chase. He then made sure he's not upstaging him before stabbing Chase in the chest multiple times. Tears rolled down Signe's cheeks as she screamed at Jameson to stop.

Jameson removed his hand from Chase's back having him fall with a loud thump, his gray shirt now maroon.

Signe tried to get on stage in an effort to stop Jameson, but it seemed like there was some sort of invisible wall separating her from him.

Jameson moved onto Henrik as Signe pounded against invisible barrier. Jameson stepped behind the doctor and slit his throat, having him fall to his knees, crimson leaking out of his neck and onto his shirt before his face met the ground. "NO!" she cried as Jameson prepared for the big finale.

Jameson walked down center, smiled ever so sweetly, waving to Signe before stabbing himself in the gut and making a horizontal cut across his abdomen, spilling his guts out onto the stage. Signe clasped her hands over her mouth, muffling her scream.

Jameson's head fell limp as the music cut out and the spotlights dimmed. Signe fell to her knees and wept into her hands.

An unnerving giggle echoed throughout the void while the puppets were pulled up by unseen strings and they disappeared into the nothingness of the void. 

" _Enjoyed the show?"_ Signe didn't answer. She didn't want to answer. He laughed manically. " _Ya should, because soon. ._ _. ._ " A new puppet was lowered onto the stage under the bright spotlight. It's short, black, doll-like hair hung over it's face like a curtain. It wore an old sweatshirt, black skinny jeans, and a pair of white socks. 

Once it's feet lie flat on the wood of the stage it's head was slowly lifted by a nearly invisible string. It revealed, Signe's face sculpted out of wood defining each and every one of her features and painted to perfection. It was unlike the other puppets where they still resembled human-like features.

The puppet's eyes opened to reveal vibrant green glass orbs. It smiled and waved to Signe. " _Y_ _ou'll be in the show too._ "

* * *

Signe awakened with a gasp, her eyes wide and frantically looking around for any signs of danger. She only found herself in Schneeplestein's hospital room, Henrik and Jackieboy nowhere to be found.

Curious, Signe sat up but froze before she swung her legs over the operating table.  . . . She didn't remember anyone taking her restraints off. She looked down to see that the leather straps were torn from their metal buckles.

Goosebumps raced across Signe's skin. 

There was only two possible reasons this could have happened. Either  _she_ tore from her restraints or some. . . thing did. Either way, it scared her to no end.

"Jameson! JAMESON!" Signe's head snapped up at the sound of Henrik's booming voice. She quickly abandoned her fear of whatever tore her restraints and ran out of the hospital room into what looked like Henrik's bedroom out into the hallway. Where Henrik was hovering over Jameson as Jackieboy and Chase watched in concern. 

Jameson was thrashing about, foaming at the mouth, his eyes rolled up toward the back of his head, and his entire body was rigid.

Jackieboy Man looked up at Signe and his eyes widened. 

"Signe, how did you-"

"Is he okay?"

Signe brushed pass the superhero and knelt down beside Jameson as his whole body shook. "Is he okay?!" she repeated more urgently. "Is he alright?!"

Henrik pushed her back away from Jameson. "He needs space!" Henrik took off Jameson's bow tie and opened up his vest before lying him on his side. Henrik then slipped off his lab coat and folded it before placing it under Jameson's head. After doing that Henrik sat back on his heels and looked up at Chase. "Time?"

Chase checked his watch. "Nearly a minute. It should be over soon."

Henrik sighed as he got to his feet. "Alright."

Signe furrowed her eyebrows. "What? That's-that's all you're going to do?"

"It's all zat ve can do."

"Can't you at least take him to the infirmary or-or that hospital room?"

"Moving him right now is not ze best zing to do. It's best if ve keep him here."

Signe got up and looked to Henrik. "How often does this happen?"

"Since Jameson got sick? About twice a week, but. . . he hasn't been having episodes in weeks," explained Chase.

Signe didn't look away from Henrik. "Do you medicate him?"

"No."

"Has it ever crossed your mind that he _needs_ medication?"

"Miss Signe, ve have been over zis. Ve do not leave zis shelter unless it is absolutely necessary."

" _Isn't this necessary?"_ whispered an unknown voice.

"You don't think this is necessary?! He's having a seizure for God's sake! If you can't look for a vaccine can you at least find something that will prevent this from happening?"

"It's too dangerous!"

" _He's only trying to save his own skin,_ " whispered the voice again. " _He's making you all suffer because he can't bare to put himself at risk for you._ "

"More dangerous than locking up the infected with the infected refusing to give any of them real medicine because you-"

"Signe, that's enough!" barked Chase. Signe turned her head so fast, it's a surprise that it didn't snap off. Chase put up his hands as if to say that he was not a threat and began speaking in a softer tone. "Listen, I know, you're upset."

" _How does he know how you feel?"_

"You don't know where Sean is. You don't know where anybody is. You've been living through a total nightmare since you've got here. And the fact that we can't fix any of it is frustrating. And trust me, I was too."

" _He can't possibly know how you're feeling right now._ "

"But you can't just go flying off the handle because-"

"Because my friend is sick and nobody's doing anything about it?!"

"Miss Signe, you must calm down-"

"Don't tell me to calm down,  _doc!"_ The three egos froze at how Signe said "doc" instead of "Henrik". She sneered. "If none of you are going to help,  _I will._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all those non-theatre people downstage is actually toward the front of the stage, stage left is the actor's right (the audience's left). And upstaging is when you stand in front of an actor for a prolonged amount of time, blocking them from the audience and giving you the attention. If you like to act, never do this unless you are required to, it's a total dick move.


	8. If You Found This It's Probably Too Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look at you, you're just sitting there and reading.  
> You just sit there and read on and on, watching these people slowly ḑ̵̬̯̃̔̉̇̆̓̃̈́̾͗̏̅́̇͘i̸̧̝͚̺̤̫̹̪̭̾̋̽̋ͅͅe̸̢̡̢̡͕̙̹̝͖͍̲͉͎̿̍̉͌̎̾͜ͅ  
> How pathetic.  
> But, what am I to expect?  
> You're all just puppets.  
> Puppets without a master  
> Yet.

Chase shook his head. "Signe, you can't-"

"Watch me." Signe turned on her heel and made her way down the hallway toward the scrap metal door. She skidded to a halt when Jack grabbed her arm. Signe turned her head so fast it almost seemed as if her neck was going to snap. " _You won't_ _stop me._ "

Jack didn't let go of her. "I'm not trying to. I'm going with you." 

Signe raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"You are most certainly not!" protested Henrik.

Jack turned around to face the doctor. "Henrik, are you really going to let Signe go out by herself?"

"I'm not letting anyone out at all! It's not safe out zere!"

"Neither is in here, Henrik. Being cooped up with the infected is not helping the rest of us. If you would just let us get out and get some real medicine we could actually help!"

"Jack, you know vhy I can't let you do zis."

Jack placed a hand on Henrik's shoulder. "Henrik, I promise you, we will be back before you know it. I _promise_." The doctor sighed heavily as he studied Jack's face, almost like he was looking at him for the very last time.

"Chase, you can look after Jameson, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Good, zen I shall go as vell."

"You sure, doc?" asked Chase.

Henrik nodded. "I'm sure."

"Come on, we're wasting time," said Signe stiffly.

* * *

Signe stepped out of the shelter for the first time in what felt like forever. The musty smell of the basement filling her nostrils as she, Jack, and Henrik walked through the dark abyss that was the cellar. 

Jack took the lead, for he had a lighter in his hands. It emitted very little light, but it will do.

Carefully they all stepped, none of them making even the slightest of sounds. Signe didn't know why they did this, but she suspected that it must be an unspoken rule of some sort.

" _Taking too long. Not enough time,_ " whispered the voice in Signe's head. " _You need to get that medicine, he's dying._ _Jameson's dying, you need to hurry._ " Anxiety spiked through Signe as it said this. " _Do you want Jameson to die? It seems like it._ "

Signe walked up to Jack and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. "Can't we-" He shushed her before she had time to finish her sentence. Signe's hands clenched into fists for a brief moment before she gained control of her calm facade. "Excuse me, but-" This time both of the men shushed her.

" _How dare they? You are only trying to ask a simple question._ " Signe nodded an agreement. " _If they don't give you the information you need, you're just going to have to take it from them, don't you?"_   Once again, Signe nodded. " _Then do it. Do it! They have left you no choice._ " Signe's hands clenched into fists with the intent of bringing them down upon them both until they tell her everything. But just as she was about to take action Jack had reached the cellar door, bright light leaking into the darkness, snapping Signe out of her senses.

Her heart became heavy as she realized what she was about to do. She relaxed her fists while Jack stepped aside, allowing Signe to climb up first. Cautiously she walked up the steps sharing a worried glance with Jackieboy before her feet finally reached the hardwood floor. Signe turned around and held up the cellar door as Henrik and Jack climbed after her.

Signe slowly closed the cellar door behind them, making sure it didn't slam.

"Ve're terribly sorry zat ve so rudely interrupted you Miss Signe, but ve can't speak vile in ze cellar." Signe pulled her eyebrows together.

"Why not?" Henrik trained his eyes on the floor, leaving Jack to do the explaining.

"Although, Marvin did an excellent job with the shelter. . . he forgot about the cellar. It's practically an Anti hot-spot, a single word could get us caught." Signe's stomach sank as she was greeted with the horrible feeling of guilt.

"Come on, ve have to find medicine."

* * *

The three ventured on through the deserted downtown area, neither of them speaking a word as they surveyed their surroundings. They didn't see anything that could favor them. But, that wasn't surprising, this was only a downtown area, it was only for tourists and hipsters really. So of course there wouldn't be a nearby pharmacy, because it's just not "mainstream".

Eventually they came to the end of downtown or perhaps it was the entrance for it did look quite inviting.

This is where they came a upon a fork in the road. To the left there was a string of fast-food restaurants, to the right there was a street of abandoned houses that gave Signe an extreme feeling of unease.

"Vich vay do ve go?" Signe pressed her lips together into a thin line as she thought.

"Whichever, we can only go down one before sunset." Signe looked to the sky to indeed see that the sun was being pulled down over the horizon.

She looked from left to right, considering their options carefully. " _You've always found what you needed in the darkest of places, go to the houses._ " Though, compelling the suggestion, Signe decided she had enough paranormal activity going on in her life.

"Let's go left, there's probably a pharmacy somewhere there." The two men nodded.

"Good idea," Jack commented.

" _You're weak._ " Signe's jaw clenched but she kept walking.

For once there was something Signe needed that  _wasn't_   behind a hallway of death. A pharmacy was behind those restaurants just as Signe thought. The three arrived at the entrance and were about to go in when they realized that the automatic doors weren't working.

Jackieboy Man put out a hand, preventing Signe and Henrik from going any further. "Hang on, guys. I'll handle this."

"Jackie, zat's not ze greatest idea, your arm is still healing, if you break zat glass-"

Jack looked over his shoulder with a smug smile. "Don't worry, doc, I'll be fine. I'm Jackieboy Man after all." With that Jack reeled back his arm and punched through the automatic door, the glass shattering and falling around his arm. He was smiling until one of the especially jagged pieces managed to get stuck in his arm. He immediately recoiled, nursing his wounded arm.

Henrik sighed heavily as he placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "You may be Jackieboy Man, but zat does not make you invincible." Jack hissed through his teeth.

"Yeah, I keep forgetting about that."

"Come on, zere should be somezing in here I can patch you up vith." The two men entered the darkness of the pharmacy, carefully stepping over the metal frame of the door. Signe followed them in, being very cautious as to not to step on the broken glass for she was still walking around in just the socks Chase had provided her.

The pharmacy, as previously mentioned was dark the only thing illuminating it being the setting sun. It was odd to be in a pharmacy and not feel a chill of the air conditioner.

The shelves were still full and going off of the toy section it appeared to have been spring when everyone had disappeared. Signe pulled at her sleeves, as her stomach churned. She didn't know why it was just so. . . unsettling to know when everyone disappeared. When. . . Sean disappeared.

God, Sean. She's barely thought about him since she joined his egos. She began to wonder if he was still safe. If he was still okay. If he was hiding somewhere.  
Or. . .

" _I'm probably not available right now, most likely because I'm_   ** _d̵̡̢̘̰̟̭̰̹̖͖̈̄͐̾̊͆̅e̷̛̪̣͖͙̲̰̩̯̣͙̗̭a̴̧͝ḍ̷̈́̊̚._** "

Signe shook her head and moved on. She can't let Anti get to her. Not now. She had to find medicine for Jameson before it was too late.

She moved into the back where the prescription bottles were kept. Nearby was Jack sitting in a chair while Henrik ripped opened a box of bandage rolls. Signe hopped over the counter and began searching for anything that could help Jameson or any of them for that matter.

After going over the many different shelves of pills she picked out an armful of bottles filled with medicine that could supposedly help them. Getting her fill Signe hopped right back over the counter just in time to see Henrik preparing to pull out the glass shard.

Jack's eyes were screwed shut. He had a white rag in his mouth and Henrik had a toy grabber clamped around the piece of glass. Signe quickly dug out a pill bottle from her arms.

"Hey." The two looked up. Signe tossed Henrik the bottle and he actually caught it. "For the pain."

* * *

After Henrik had patched up Jack the three exited the pharmacy each with an equal amount of pill bottles in their hands and hurried back to the tavern. They arrived at the bar and made way for the cellar when they had to make a momentary pause to convince Jack that guzzling down a bottle of whiskey will not help him - since the painkillers weren't kicking in just yet.

The trio walked down into the cellar, not making a peep as they came upon the scrap metal door. Henrik stepped forward and gave the secret knock and they all waited for a long, long time until Henrik had to knock again. There still wasn't an answer.

Something was up.

Henrik glanced over his shoulder at the two and gave them a look that said, "stay behind me". Jack lined up behind Henrik while still guarding Signe from whatever may be hiding beyond that door. Slowly, Henrik placed his palm atop the cool, metal surface and pushed it open. It revealed the entryway, the lights were flickering on and off rapidly. There were scratch and scuff marks on the floor, showing a definite sign of struggle.

Cautiously, Henrik moved into the shelter, Jack and Signe following close behind. From the living room they could hear the radio, playing a very old tune.

It sounded. . . familiar. There was something sinister about this song but Signe couldn't put her finger on it.

The three pushed on. The living room was a absolute wreck. The two moldy chairs ripped and thrown to opposite sides of the room, the stuffing strewn about the gray carpet. The bookshelf in pieces as well as the radio, it was freaky that it was still playing.

Signe grabbed Jack's hand and clutched it tightly. Jack didn't look back but he squeezed her hand reassuringly. The three moved onto the dark hallway and it was perhaps the most unsettling thing Signe has seen so far

Marvin's door was wide open, the tape that once shielded it torn apart. The whiteboards were all thrown to the ground. And there was a trail of blood leading to a dark figure at the very end of the hallway, but it wasn't clear whether it was Jameson or Chase.

"Chase? Jameson?" called Henrik.

Just as the chorus began two green eyes shined through the darkness like two bright emeralds.

He flashed them a shiny grin as he stepped forward into the light. It was Jameson. His bright blue vest and black bow tie were discarded leaving only his blood stained white shirt and black pants that now had splotches of crimson. His fingernails were sharp and like his clothing was stained with red.

He held Chase by the brown locks of his hair in one hand, in the other he held a large kitchen knife that was pressed close to Chase's throat.

Chase also had blood stains on his clothing, although it looked like his own. He was missing several fingers as well as an ear and had several scratches on his face and arms. He was extremely pale and wasn't really putting up much of a fight, but he was still alive.

" _Nice o' you to join us._ "

" _Video killed the radio star,_

_Video killed the radio star,_

_In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind we've gone too far._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that I used here was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles, 1979  
> Here's the link to it if you want to listen to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwuy4hHO3YQ  
> Fun fact: Becky Webber did an Antisepticeye animatic with this song and it was the first thing to give me the inspiration to come up with this fanfiction. I really recommend checking her out, she's on youtube and she makes amazing art (and she's the only artist I know that hand draws her animatics on paper). Here's a link to her channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeqRUvnGjjHI-jxrTcWZ5Ow


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Titles are so unnecessary, don't you think?  
> I bet you don't even read them.  
> You just want to read whatever may happen to your favorite b̸̹͉̣̣̺̝̩͐̾͌̓̈̽ ̸̣̂̑̅͌̋̏̓̃̇̓͝o̸̰̝̝̱̊̈́ ̶̧̨̧̧̭̪̯̭̬̼̰͖̰̳̪̒͑̐͒͐̓̕͝͝y̴̜̼̯̖̜͙̪͕̚ ̴̨̢̻͚͖̹̟̞̘̳̥̮̩̰̈́̔̆́͊̌̄͆͊̚͝s̴͈͙̲̣̓̀  
> You're probably not going to read these notes, are ya?  
> For you don't care much for the writer either.  
> .̵͕̒d̴̖̅ẹ̴̈c̸͔̀ǐ̶͜t̷̰͋ō̸̘n̸̥̈́ ̵͇̓n̶̫̏ȩ̴̃v̸̧͝ë̵͙́ ̸͕͆r̴̺͠e̴̟v̸͙̇e̸̪n̶̘̚ ̵̝̾ū̷̘o̵̻y̸̪̚ ̷͕̿d̶̖͠n̷͙͠ā̷̘ ̷̙͋ë̸̜́č̴͉a̸̟l̵̳̄p̸̘̀ ̴̭̏ŗ̷̈́ê̷̟ḧ̴̬́ ̵̮̚k̸̿ͅo̴̥͘o̴̱͠t̵̗͐ ̸̯̓I̷̟͂ ̴͍̆d̶̡̈́n̵̦̚ả̵̰ ̵̼͊o̶̲͋ģ̵̒ą̴̚ ̶̟̈́g̷̤n̴̮͆o̵̟͆l̶͕̇ ̷̳̋d̸̾͜e̵͓̍i̶̠̕d̵̲͊ ̸̨̓ē̵̙h̶̗̆s̶͖͐ ̶̠̚w̷̝͆o̸̭͝h̶̫̕ ̵͔̋e̴̥k̵͍̂i̶̘L̴̲̊  
> Well then, by all means, don't let me stop you. Go on, read your chapter.

" _Me an' ol' Chase here have been waitin' for a long_ _time for ya._ " Anti turned his head swiftly to Chase. " _Almost too long, huh, Chasey?"_   Henrik visibly stiffened as the air grew tense.

"Vat do you vant, Anti?"

Anti looked back to the petrified group. " _Oh, you should know what I want by now, doc._ " When Anti received no response he contorted Jameson's face into a false expression of pity. " _Aw, don't tell me you've_ _forgotten._ " He laughed cruelly. " _Oh, well, I guess a refresher is an order. I want total control. And the only way to achieve that is to start anew. Pluckin' off the stubborn who just won't give in. Unfortunately. ._ ." Anti's gaze fell upon the floor as his expression morphed into one of anger. He held Chase's hair tighter in his fists, pressing the knife closer to his throat. " _W_ _hile_ _I was pickin' off all those broken **puppets** , I lost one._"

Signe knitted her eyebrows together as her heart rate picked up speed. Anti lifted his fiery gaze back up to the group. " _I **need** to know where he is._ "

"Where who is?"

" ** _Don't play dumb with me, fucker!_** _"_ he barked at Jack. " _You know exactly who._ "

Signe swallowed the lump in her throat as she gained the courage to speak. "Sean?"

Anti grinned. " _Clever girl_ _._ "

"Ve don't know vhere Jack is."

Anti's grin faded as he turned to Henrik, pointing his knife toward him now. " _Don't fuckin' lie to me._ "

"We're not! We swear!" implored Jack.

Anti raised an eyebrow. " _Ya swear, huh?"_   Anti smiled widely as he yanked at Chase's hair and the knife resumed it's position against Chase's throat. " _Would ya swear on yer friend's life? Huh? Would ya?"_

"Don't listen to him," begged Chase warily. "Please, don't listen-"

Anti tugged at Chase's hair. " _If I hear another word from yer mouth yer hand is comin' off!"_

"Anti, ve don't know vhere Jack is," Henrik said slowly.

Jameson's nostrils flared as Anti silently fumed. " _Fine. I guess I'll just have to do this myself._ " Anti went to slit Chase's throat when Chase got to his feet and began fighting with what little strength he had left.

"GO! GO! RUN!"

"We can't leave you behind, Chase!" protested Jack.

Chase managed a small smile as pushed against Anti. "I'll be fine, kiddo. Go save the others." Jack clenched his fists. tears welling up in his large blue eyes. You could tell that he longed to save Chase, but he had more important people to save.

Jack grabbed Henrik and Signe by the arms and they ran out of the shelter and into the dark, Anti shouting after them. Jack didn't stop running, didn't look back, not even for a second. 

" _You can't escape me!"_ Anti's heavy footsteps were starting to gain on the three. " _Get back here!"_   

No matter how fast the three ran it didn't seem that they were making any progress. Signe's stomach sank as she realized that they were running in a never-ending hallway.

They weren't going to escape this. They were all going to die.

Signe was never going to see the light of day again. She was never going to see her family or Sean ever again. The last thing she'll see is the endless darkness that was the cellar.

Tears rushing down her cheeks as she was overwhelmed with the fear of dying. Not just her own death, but Henrik's, Jack's, Chase's, Jameson's. . . Sean's. She didn't want anyone to die. She could've stopped this. She could've done something to prevent this from happening.  _Something._

. . . She still could do something. And though, she feared her own death, she feared her friend's more.

Signe tore her arm away from Jack and stood her ground, accepting whatever may come. Anti's heavy footsteps becoming louder and louder until-

Jack jumped in front of Signe and pushed Anti away from her. "Go on without me, doc! Protect Signe!" Jack ordered from over his shoulder as Anti regained his balance.

"I vill miss you, sohn." Henrik grabbed Signe's arm and pulled her away.

"What? No! NO! NO! WE CAN'T LEAVE HIM! WE CAN'T LEAVE YOU! JACK!" Jack flashed Signe one last smile.

"Don't worry, Signe. I'll be fine. I'm Jackieboy Man." He reeled back his arm and punched Anti square in the nose in an almost comical way as he always did.

"Ve have to keep moving," Henrik said stiffly, hiding the emotion in his voice.

Whatever Jack was doing it had apparently distracted Anti long enough for Henrik and Signe to reach the end of the cellar. Henrik hurriedly climbed up the stairs, pulling Signe along. He opened the cellar door, light breaching through the darkness. He pulled Signe up into the bar and slammed the cellar door shut before dragging a full crate of untouched alcohol over it.

"Zat von't hold him for long. Ve need to get out of here. Now." Henrik grabbed Signe's wrist and pulled but she didn't budge, her eyes glued to the floor.

"No."

"Signe, ve do not have time to reflect right now. Ve have to go-!"

"No." She lifted her eyes to meet Henrik's. "I am not letting that motherfucker leave here!" Signe pulled as many bottles from their shelves as she could hold.

"Signe-"

"Search the place for matches, it's bound to have a box somewhere. I'll take care of the rest." 

"Vat?" Signe placed the bottles down onto the counter and whipped her head around.

"Matches, Henrik! Matches!" Signe could tell that he wanted to argue but his desire to avenge his fallen friends seemed stronger. He got to work searching for matches while Signe uncorked bottles of liquor.

She grabbed two bottles at a time and dosed the hardware floors with the alcohol, making sure to cover every wooden surface in the bar before making a trail that ended at the entrance. Soon after Signe was done Henrik came rushing out of the bar a box of matches in his hand.

"I've got it! I've got it!"

"Then light it up, Henrik." Schneeplestein quickly opened it and pulled out a single match, striking it against the box's side before dropping it onto Signe's trail of alcohol. He ran to Signe's side and watched as fire rose from the match and raced into the wooden tavern, the whole place going up in flames in a matter of seconds. 

The two watched as the last of what remains of Marvin the Magnificent disintegrated. The legend of Jackieboy Man vanishing. Jameson Jackson's final act. Chase Brody's family reunion. The fear of Anti's rule, vanquishing. 

The flames flickered in Henrik's glossy eyes. "I. . . I couldn't save zem. I couldn't-" 

Signe shook her head. "It's not your fault."

"But, I could have-"

"It's mine. I should have never entered that bar, I should have never stepped foot in your shelter. None of this would have happened if I had just. . . ."

Henrik turned to face Signe, looking to her with a very stern expression. "Signe, vat happened in zere vas beyond your own control. You vere facing zings you have never experienced in your entire life-"

Signe looked Henrik in the eyes. "And you weren't, Henrik?" The doctor fell quiet as his eyes turned red from the tears he was desperately trying to hold back. Suddenly, he pulled Signe in a tight hug as tears ran down his cheeks. Slowly, Signe wrapped her arms around Henrik and held him close as the sorrow sank in. "It wasn't your fault, Henrik. It wasn't."

"It vasn't yours eizer," he said through a strained voice. 

"They. . . they really did care for you, Henrik."

"They did for you as vell."

Signe's eyes began to water once again. "I'm going to miss them."

"Me too."

After that, Henrik and Signe ventured on through the world, searching for a cure, searching for someone that could help them, searching for Sean if he even was out there.

Anti not far behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, I'm sorry, is that not the ending you wanted?  
> Maybe you should have done something i̸͚̮̘͒͆͜n̷̟̟̮̫͊s̵̡̫͚̈́͋͒͘t̴̞͔͓̱̅̐͌͑ĕ̸̡̩͓͘a̵͔͎̺̺͋d̷͓̗̈́̚ ̷͕̦̒͘o̴̹͖̔ͅf̴̳̿̉̓́ ̶̞̉̂̆j̶̝͇̤̭̈́̽u̸̳̒̕s̴̬̱̲̖̽̕͝͝t̸̥͕͇͗͜ ̵̖̻̺̯̏̋͗ś̸̹̬̐ȉ̷͕͕̠̂͐̄t̸̲̝͍̋̏̾̈́͜ṫ̶͙̼̲̰͐͝͝ị̷̜̲̜̆͘͘n̵̨͍̲͜͠g̵̺̩̯͆ ̷̼͉̻̔̈́̚t̷̘̮̤͗̿̈́h̶̻̓ë̴̪͎͠r̶̫̍̄ͅé̶̼̖̦̘͗̆ ̶͍͒͊͆h̵̘͗͜e̴̲̩͐̆͘͠l̴̖p̸͔̻̺̓̾̑l̸̼̐͝ḛ̷̢̌̓͜͠s̶͍̪̲̎̑̑s̷̻̳̠̍͛l̷̺͎̖̅y̶̲͔̭̺̒̕
> 
>  
> 
> (okay no, but seriously, I want to thank you guys so much for reading this story I've had a blast writing it, even though i killed like all the characters. i'm so sorry for the ending, i'm even crying over it, but i think we all knew that this was not going to end well. anyway, thanks again for all the support and love i really do appreciate it.)


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